Hi there, I made an observation of a crane fly, trying to find out which species by comparing to other find locally I discovered that most of the observations nearby are not research grade (not up to species), I want to learn more about how identify species of crane flies so I can help with the observations in southeast Asia, but I couldn’t find a good reference so far, anyone has a suggestion or know any expert out there that can help?
My observation is here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/71672707
You can use the avanced search here. https://ccw.naturalis.nl/index.php though it doesn’t have many records for Singapore.
I have no key to id Asian craneflies, but you can find out which parts are needed for id looking at Stubbs and Kramer European keys https://ccw.naturalis.nl/documents/Stubbs_and_Kramer,_2016a.pdf
You can modify this URL by changing “a” in the end to next letters, e.g. https://ccw.naturalis.nl/documents/Stubbs_and_Kramer,_2016d.pdf is a key to Tipula subgenera.
From my experience other than general lateral/ventral photos you need to capture the insect, photograph mouthparts, antennae, ventral head view (to see how eyes end there), one wing clearly showing any pattern and veins/hairs, dorsal torax/abdomen pattern, genitals from 3 dimensions (based on camera you have, mostly you don’t need to dissect them, just make a clear shot), legs pattern (e.g. yours have those white rings on legs).
e.g. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/47621970 for male
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/50821385 for female (you can see not all taxa need all of these shots, but unless you kno it better make them).
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I know nothing about Asian Crane flies, but as far as I know, the Tipulidae are both abundant and not extremely well known. North American Bugguide (https://bugguide.net/node/view/183) says there are “3 subfamilies, with >560 spp. in 12 genera in our area (80% in Tipula), >4,400 spp. in ~40 genera worldwide.” @fffffffff appears to know more about photographing them than me, but I suspect you will have a challenge ahead of you trying to get them to species. It would certainly be worthwhile. Learn the crucial anatomy and wing veins. Google Scholar may also be a source of information, but many of the papers are paywall protected.
Thanks for the replies, yeah, going to species level prooved to be a hard challenge for this one, I’ll read the references, but in meanwhile, if anyone has more sources or more information I would be happy receiving more feedback.
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