Crane flies are long-legged, winged insects that resemble gigantic mosquitos. Though they are not mosquitos, nor can they sting or bite,they are in the same order as mosquitos, Diptera. They belong to the class Insecta, the Tipulidae family, and the Tipulis genus. T. Abdominalis is seen frequently at Sam's farm and other places in Clarke County. Because the species of tipulids are so similar and because research on them is very limited, very little information exists about this particular species. Please refer to the general Tipulidae page for more general information. T.Abdominalis is found in the SouthEastern United States, south to Florida (Bland 1947).

T. Abdominalis is 24-38 mm with a thorax patterened black and gray. The sides are gray and black. The clouded wings, which was a feature that I used to distinguish this species from others, were clouded with gray. The specimen is often seen in the late summer. Tipulids gravitate toward light, and they are often seen in swarms.

The larvae of T.abdominalis is aquatic. Aquatic insects are important because of they serve as "model organisms which illustrate a basic biological principle." Aquatic organisms tell us about trophic levels, adaptation to extreme habitats, and the consequences of diapause. (Lehmkuhl 1978). The larvae of T.abdominalis are

, Ahles & Bell, 1968 Radford,
Continental United States; Canada