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Trichoceridae
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Trichocera garretti
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Trichocera garretti Alexander
The common “winter crane flies” may be easily found during the fall and spring and likewise occurring outdoors on warm days in winter. They tend to fly in small swarms in sunlit places. They can also be found in caverns, mines and
similar darkened places. Adults of winter crane flies can be
easily recognized from common crane flies by their A2 veins which
are shorter and strongly curved at apex and bent suddenly towards
the wing margins (see images below). The larvae live in decaying vegetable matter, as beneath rotted leaves, in stored roots and tubers, in fungi, and in similar haunts showing organic decay (Alexander, 1942). The adults are about 7-9 mm in size, dark brown. Their legs are long and slender but do
not break readily as in other crane flies.
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Trichocera species Photo by Stephen Cresswell |
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