1. European Crane Fly
Tipula paludosa
Tom Cook
Dept. of Horticulture
Oregon State University
Updated Feb 2008

2. European crane fly first arrived in the Vancouver, BC area in the 1960’s. Since
then it has moved south and is currently found throughout western Washington
and most of western Oregon. Isolated outbreaks have been observed in the
Spokane, WA area and in the Bend-Redmond area in Oregon.
This is an unusual insect in that it causes most of its damage in late winter and
early spring as larvae feeding on all parts of the plant. While we think of it as a
turfgrass pest it is also active on many ornamental perennials.
The historical pattern for this insect is to move quietly into an area where it may
develop to very high populations within a year or two. Suddenly, out of the blue
people start observing damage in the spring. Since no one was looking the initial
damage from this insect can be quite severe. After a few years, reports of damage
decrease and we typically see just an occasional flare up during a ‘good year’ for
larval development.
This slide show depicts the life cycle for this European crane fly and points out
the times of the year to monitor for activity and when to use control strategies.
Understanding the natural cycle for crane fly will help you avoid needless use of
insecticides.

3. European Crane Fly Adult Male
Crane fly adults emerge
over about a two month
period from late August
through October. The
adult forms are harmless
to turf.
J F M A M J J A S O N D
T Cook photo

4. European Crane Fly Adult Female
Female crane fly adults are larger than
the male adults. The female body is
longer than the wings and tapers to a
pointed ovipositor used to disseminate
eggs.
T Cook photo

5. Crane flies mate shortly after emerging from the pupae
Adults mate shortly after hatching out. Adult
crane flies live for only a few weeks at the most
so they have to work fast! T Cook photo

6. Females lay eggs in thatch
Gravid females are not able to fly
very far so they tend to lay their eggs
by walking over an area and depositing
eggs in the lower thatch layer via the long
ovipositor. Each female can lay several
Ovipositor hundred eggs. The female dies shortly
after egg lay.
T Cook photo

7. Crane fly eggs
European crane fly eggs are tiny; just slightly
larger than grains of sand. They have to remain
constantly moist for the 10-14 days needed to
hatch. Drying during the incubation period will
kill a high percentage of the eggs.

8. Crane fly development
European crane fly develops through four instar stages prior to
pupation. This photo shows each of the first three instar stages.
The first and second instars last only about a month each and neither
instar causes any damage to the turf. The third instar appears
generally in December and may be active through April. This is the
stage that causes damage by feeding on shoots and roots. The third
instar is commonly referred to as a leather jacket. Damage is most likely
to occur in February through March in most years.
2nd Instar 3rd Instar
1st Instar
J F M A M J J A S O N D J
T Cook photo

9. J F M A M J J A S O N D J
3rd or 4th instar larvae in soil beneath turf
Crane fly larvae live
their entire lives in the
zone from 0 to 3” deep.
The fourth instar is similar in appearance to the third
instar but it does not actively feed and is not
associated with damage though it often is the stage
we see after damage has occurred. The fourth instar
3” is active through July.
4th instar
T Cook photo

10. European crane fly pupa
The fourth instar molts into the pupal stage by August.
Pupation takes about 4 weeks after which adults emerge
to start the cycle over. Crane fly pupae appear to be
modeled after King Tut’s sarcophagus!
T Cook photo

11. European crane fly adults emerge in fall
It’s fun to watch crane fly emerge from the
pupa. First the head and legs break through
the tip of the pupal casing. The legs are then
positioned and the struggle to emerge begins.
During emergence, the body stretches to about
1.5 times its normal length. After emergence,
the body shrinks back to normal and its short
life begins in earnest. Emergence appears to
occur primarily in morning or late afternoon.
T Cook photo

12. Pupal casings are easy to see
during the fall hatch period.
Pupal casing on putting green
just after emergence
T Cook photos

13. Tipula paludosa Life Cycle
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Adults
Eggs
3rd 4th 1st 2nd 3rd
Larvae
Pupae
Produces one generation per year Injury may occur
If you put it all together the life cycle for European crane fly looks like this. People tend to freak out in fall when adults are active
and miss the early spring period when damage actually occurs.

14. Crane fly 3rd instar larvae feed primarily on the foliar parts of the plants
Carne fly damage starts out with simple thinning of turf. You may
notice that growth seems to slow down when it should be increasing.
You may also notice increased starling activity as they look for larvae.
T Cook photo

15. As feeding progresses, turf thinning becomes more pronounced
As feeding continues, the turf gets much thinner and weaker. If you do
nothing, a heavy infestation can literally remove all of the turf. On the
other hand, a modest infestation may thin turf about 50% with no lasting
damage to the turf. This is about like a good dethatching.
T Cook photo

16. End point without treatment
In this case nothing was done and severe turf injury occurred. The larvae
in this picture are all 4th instar larvae. The damage was done by the 3rd
instar larvae, which then molted into the 4th instars. Applying an insecticide
now will serve no purpose since the damage is already done.
T Cook photo

17. Practical monitoring for 3rd instar larvae
Monitoring for larvae is the best way
to determine the potential for turf
damage in any given year.
6” spade
Simply remove a 6” x 6” chunk of turf
about 3” deep. Break up the soil and
count larvae. Multiply the total count
by 4 and you will have the number of
3rd instar larvae per square foot.
Monitoring should start in mid-January.
If you are finding larvae repeat on two
week intervals during February.
T Cook photo

18. Monitoring Schedule
No History: Start in January
Prior History: Start in December
SAMPLE EVERY TWO WEEKS

19. Curative Control Existing Turf
Treatment threshold for 3rd instar larvae:
WSU: 15-25 larvae /sq ft
OSU: 25-50 larvae /sq ft
plus visible turf thinning
Over time we have established empirical thresholds for when you need to do something to avoid significant
damage to lawns. WSU uses a conservative threshold of 15-25 larvae per sq ft. In Oregon I use 25-50 larvae
per sq ft and visible signs of turf thinning. My rationale is that it doesn’t matter how many larvae you find If there
is no sign of damage. Healthy lawns can tolerate very large numbers of larvae and show no signs of damage.
Since the Beavers beat WSU this year in football, the smart move is to use the OSU threshold!

20. A few crane fly larvae in an otherwise healthy lawn do not require treatment
T Cook photos

21. High larval populations and turf thinning indicate that treatment is needed
to save the lawn. In this case larvae reached 60 /square foot.
T Cook photos

22. Cultural control of crane fly
1.Maintain healthy turf
2.Stop irrigation after Labor Day
Dense healthy turf will rarely show damage from crane fly larvae. I have observed that healthy lawns can
tolerate as much as 50% thinning and recover completely by early summer.
People who want really nice lawns often tend to over irrigate their lawns in general and specifically going into
fall. Since moisture during egg lay ensures large crane fly larval populations, wet lawns often have the worst
infestations. In much of the PNW we can shut water off after labor day without any impact on the appearance
of our turf. By drying out the turf during the egg lay period we can kill a large percentage of the eggs. Fewer
eggs means fewer larvae and less chance of turf damage.
As long as the fall period is dry this approach can help us avoid turf damage and reduce the likelihood that
we will need to apply insecticides to control larvae in spring.

23. Curative Control Chemicals
Target 3rd Instar larvae
(December-April)
Dursban (Golf only)
Sevin
Talstar
Deltaguard

24. Preventive Control Chemicals
Target 1-2nd Instar larvae
(Sept-October)
Merit (Sept)
Dursban (Golf only)
Sevin
Talstar
Tempo
Preventive control works very well, but it is based on a false premise that you are definitely going to have a
problem with crane fly. In perennial trouble spots this might make sense, but in the vast majority of lawns crane
fly do not attack the same site every year. I think we can control crane fly just fine by using the monitoring
approach.
Of the products listed above Merit definitely works better applied as a preventive chemical than it does
once the larvae get larger.

25. Crane Fly Control in New Lawns
Target 1-2nd Instar larvae
(Sept-October)
Dursban (Golf only)
Sevin
Talstar
Tempo
Several years ago I started getting calls from the Tillamook area about crane flies destroying new lawns planted in the fall.
When you think about it, if you plant a lawn around the time the crane fly are laying eggs it will be a perfect environment
for larvae to develop in because you will be irrigating it frequently. If you plan on planting during this period you may have
to treat preventively to avoid losing your lawn.
Options include planting in spring through midsummer in coastal areas so your lawn will be more mature come fall. I
haven’t seen much problem with this in other parts of Oregon.

26. What about other crane fly species?
There are many different species of crane fly. The majority do not affect
turf at all. One that is frequently found in lawns is the common crane fly,
Tipula oleracea. It cause quite a stir when it was first observed because
it apparently produces two generations each year so we now see adults
emerging in spring as well as fall.
The following slides denote the differences between the appearance of the
European crane fly and the common crane fly. I have also developed a life
cycle chart that shows how each species overlaps during the year. We normally
find both crane fly species in most lawns.

27. European crane fly Common crane fly
Tipula paludosa Tipula oleracea

28. Differences between European crane fly
and Common crane fly
Tipula paludosa wings (A) are shorter than the
abdomen (B).
A
B
T Cook photo

29. General Observations:
1. European crane fly out number
common crane fly approx. 9 to 1
2. No documented damage from
common crane fly
3. European crane fly control
efforts will also control
common crane fly

30. T. oleracea & T. paludosa
Combined Life Cycles
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Adults
Eggs
Larvae
Pupae
Based on two generations per year for T. oleracea
TO spring T O fall TP
and one generation for T. paludosa
I have never seen damage from the summer generation of common crane fly. The fall generation can generally be controlled
by following procedures for European crane fly. I don’t consider the common crane fly as a big problem.

31. Final thoughts:
1. Crane fly damage is worse when
they first invade a new area.
2. Crane fly damage is more likely in
wet or otherwise stressed areas.
3. Damage is usually sporadic in a
given area.
4. Monitoring can reduce insecticide
use up to 80%