[All pictures of garden wildlife on this page are thumbnails. Click on any thumbnail for a large format to be displayed.]

Cone-horn cranefly (Ctenophora pectinicornis)

All of the above photos depict a female Cone-horn cranefly.

Cone-horn cranefly belongs to the family Tipulidae which are quite widespread and easily recognisable insects. It is an spectacular and scary-looking insect to see due to its size of about 4 cm, extremely long legs and striking yellow-black pattern on the body. Its favourite habitat are broadleaved woodlands. The larva live in dead or deseased wood. Males have a comb-shaped antennae. These craneflies are totally harmless and the pointed behind of the female is simply desgned for laying eggs and not for stinging. The striking colour is meant to scare off birds.