Life History.

The life history of the Crane flies, both of the Tipula oleracea and its close congener Tipula maculosa, is simple. The eggs are small oval, conical grains, shining and black as ebony, as Curtis writes, forming a mass which occupies nearly the whole of the abdomen. As many as three hundred have been found in one female. These are deposited in the autumn upon grass and herbage, and more frequently in the ground. Wet undrained meadows and marshy and damp places are preferred by these insects, and the conditions of such spots are probably favourable to the preservation, and the ultimate hatching, of the eggs. This hatching takes place in the early spring, directly the weather becomes mild. Taschenberg reports that they have been found as early as January and February in mild winters.

Miss Ormerod relates that they may be found as early as February, for in 1880 they were destroying hundreds of acres of page 24 autumn sown wheat on heavy land, after clover, at that date. After hatching, the maggots, or larvae, grow fast until they become an inch in length (No. 1). Labourers call them "leather jackets" because of their tough skins. Their colour is of the earth, with a slight dash of grey or ash colour in it. Although they have no legs they are able to move rapidly from place to place and burrow in the ground. It is in this grub form that they do mischief to crops, and they remain in this stage of their existence until the beginning of July, at which period they change into pupæ under the surface of the soil. After a while the pupae work their way up to the light by means of the hooks or recurved spines shown at No. 2, and in a short time the Crane flies appear, and soon unfold their long wings and fly away to commence a new series. Most persons are acquainted with these insects in their perfect forms, but it may be stated that the females are about an inch long, with wings two inches across. Their colour is light brown; they have six legs, and a long tapering body, with nine divisions or segments. The male insects are not so large as the females. Pairing takes place in the beginning of August. In fields and meadows infested with Crane flies thousands of empty pupa cases can be seen sticking half out of the ground. It should be mentioned that in some seasons the flies may be seen as late as October.