Definitions

Sorry, no definitions found. Check out and contribute to the discussion of this word!

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word crane-fly.

Examples

  • They sat there blinking, and then would suddenly snap at a passing crane-fly; sitting back, looking a trifle embarrassed, they stuffed the trailing ends of wing and leg into their great mouths with the aid of their thumbs.

    My Family and Other Animals Durrell, Gerald, 1925- 1956

  • Among the Diptera, the 'leather-jacket' grub of the crane-fly, feeding like the wireworm on roots, has a larval life extending through the greater part of a year, while the maggot of the bluebottle, feeding on a rich meat diet, becomes mature in a few days.

    The Life-Story of Insects 1902

  • In a larva of the crane-fly family (Tipulidae, fig. 20) living underground and eating plant-roots, like the well-known 'leather-jacket' grubs of the large

    The Life-Story of Insects 1902

  • Although, however, like all grain-eating birds, the pheasant is no doubt capable of inflicting appreciable damage on cultivated land, it seems to be established beyond all question that it also feeds greedily on the even more destructive larva of the crane-fly, in which case it may more than pay its footing in the fields.

    Birds in the Calendar 1894

  • Rare plants include blue-hearts, Texas sandwort, crested coralroot, crane-fly orchid, dwarf hackberry and spotted wintergreen.

    post-gazette.com - News 2009

  • And so a new memory is mine; and when one of these insects comes to my lamp in whatever part of the world, fluttering weakly, legs breaking off at the slightest touch, I shall cease to worry about the scientific problems that loom too great for my brain, or about the imperfection of whatever I am doing, and shall welcome the crane-fly and strive to free him from this fatal passion for flame, directing him again into the night; for he may be looking for a dark pocket in a root, a pocket on the Edge of the World, where crane-flies may vibrate with their fellows in an eternal dance.

    Edge of the Jungle William Beebe 1919

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.