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Taken with a Canon EF 70-300 USM zoom with extension tubes and flash. This has the advantage of giving a good amount of standoff from the subject which is less likely to be spooked. Lighting with flash allows a small aperture to be used.
From wikipedia:
Crane flies are insects in the family Tipulidae, resembling giant mosquitoes. Like the mosquito, they are in the order Diptera (flies). Adults are very slender, long-legged flies that may vary in length from 2 mm to 60 mm (tropical species may exceed 100mm).
Numerous other common names have been applied to the crane fly, many of them more or less regional, including, mosquito hawks, mosquito eaters (or skeeter eaters), gallinippers, and jimmy spinners. In the United Kingdom they are commonly referred to as daddy long-legs, but this name can also refer (especially in the United States) to two unrelated arthropods: members of the arachnid order Opiliones and the cellar spider (Pholcidae).
At least 14,000 species of crane flies have been described, most of them (75%) by the specialist Charles P. Alexander. This makes the Tipulidae the largest family of Diptera. Despite the large numbers of species, the juvenile stages of most crane flies are unknown; less than 2% of the species' larvae have been described.
... or flying ant.
Saw the first mini swarm in the garden today.
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae.
© Mike Broome 2018
Calico Pennant
Celithemis elisa
Photo taken at Bear Lake in Munson Florida within the Blackwater River State Forest.