Limoniid Crane Fly - Hexatoma (Eriocera) lunigera

This Limoniid Crane Fly - Hexatoma (Eriocera) lunigera didn't look like anything special to me when I saw it, and I only took one picture of it because it was a pair. When I posted it to another forum 3 years ago, one of the Moderator went to great length to get the ID after he was only able to identify the genus. He contacted an expert in Crane Fly, Piotr Oosterbroek from Holland who then was able to identify it to the species level. But the amazing part of the story was that Piotr Oosterbroek only had the historic drawing from the description in 1856 and this picture now became the first photo document of a live Limoniid Crane Fly - Hexatoma (Eriocera) lunigera.

comments (6)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Congrats on this breakthrough, Albert! Posted 8 years ago
1. Albert Kang
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks, Ferdy.
  Was proud of it, and since then, there are several more ... ha ha! Posted 8 years ago

Pudding4brains

Lion

Excellent story Albert! :o) I saw a few similar to these on Java when I was there - truly incredible looking crane flies !! The silvery parts on the back and on the head are really that - shiny silver - never seen anything like it. I did send mine in to Pjotr too at the time, but I don't think he was able to ID these from photo, so excellent job that he could identify your rare species and that there is now a photo record of it :o)

May I also use this opportunity to thank you once more for all the AMAZING underwater photos you have been showing us. It is such a huge pleasure to open the site and browse through your new images time and again ... very VERY beautiful critters and images ... THANKS!! Posted 8 years ago, modified 8 years ago
1. Albert Kang
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks, Arp/Pudding4brains and indeed lovely Crane Fly from Java. Unfortunate Piotr was not able to help with the exact species ID, maybe it is a new one? ;)
  
  I am glad that you enjoyed my posts from the marine world, that is one of the nice part of sharing and getting inspired by others :D
  
  Cheers! Posted 8 years ago
2. 1. Pudding4brains
    
    Lion
    
    I think the problem was that there are some 29 Eriocera spp known from Java and he would need to verify them one by one from old descriptions (like with your animals - 1895 etc) while knowing that it might as well be a as yet undescribed species, so I can fully understand he didn't have the time for that ... (if at all possible) :o) Posted 8 years ago
  2. 1. Albert Kang
      
      Lion
      
      Yes, that's incredible that there are so many species and all this tiny critters can be a handful to verify the IDs. And it is a thorough job the Taxanomists have to go through to verify the differences and the distinctive features that may makes them different from each other. Posted 8 years ago