Cranefly Recording Scheme

• Taxonomic Group (English): Craneflies
• Taxonomic Group (Scientific): Tipuloidea & Ptychopteridae
• Scheme organiser: the scheme is run by a small team of people; contact Ryan Mitchell for enquiries regarding records, and the newsletter editor is John Kramer

Cranefly Recording Scheme on social media

Information, help with identifications and general cranefly chat and enthusiasm is available on Facebook (managed by Ryan Mitchell and Ian Andrews). Records can be submitted via iRecord, or contact the scheme organisers direct to send in spreadsheets etc.

Identification resources

British Craneflies by Alan Stubbs

This comprehensive book covers all the British species, providing identification keys, illustrations and species accounts. The essential reference for anyone recording craneflies in the UK. Available from the British Entomological and Natural History Society (BENHS - discount available for members of BENHS or Dipterists Forum).

Cranefly crib sheets

These are for personal educational use only, and are NOT a replacement for the identification keys listed below. They are by Pete Boardman (2020).

• Introduction to craneflies and cranefly recording
• Crib sheet for tiger craneflies, genus Nephrotoma. (Nephrotoma is also included in the "Key to species of long-palped craneflies other than Tipula", see link below).
• Crib to UK woodland Limonia sp. craneflies. (Limonia is also included in the "Key to subfamily Limoniinae", see link below).

Draft keys to craneflies by Alan Stubbs and John Kramer

These keys are all by Stubbs, A.E. and Kramer. J. (2016). The links are to PDFs hosted on the Catalogue of the Craneflies of the World. (The keys were drafted during preparation for the BENHS book by Alan Stubbs, see above, which has the latest versions of the keys.)

• Key to the families and sub-families of craneflies, by Alan Stubbs, 1994, revised by John Kramer, 2016. Published by the authors as PDF (4 pages); date of latest version: 5 December 2016.
• Key to the genera of Tipulidae, by Alan Stubbs, revised by John Kramer, 2016. Published by the authors as PDF (3 pages); date of latest version: 5 December 2016.
• Key to the subgenera and species of Tipula, by Alan Stubbs, 1996, revised by John Kramer, 2016. Published by the authors as PDF (29 pages); date of latest version: 17 February 2018.
• Key to species of long-palped craneflies other than Tipula, by Alan Stubbs, 1994, revised by John Kramer, 2016. Published by the authors as PDF (9 pages); date of latest version: 5 December 2016.
• Key to the family Cylindrotomidae, Long-bodied Craneflies, revised by John Kramer, 2016. Published by the authors as PDF (2 pages); date of latest version: 12 April 2016.
• Key to hairy-eyed craneflies: Pediciidae, by Alan Stubbs, 1994, revised by John Kramer, 2016. Published by the authors as PDF (10 pages); date of latest version: 3 January 2017.
• A key to the subfamily Limnophilinae, by Alan Stubbs, 1997, revised by John Kramer, 2016. Published by the authors as PDF (15 pages); date of latest version: 22 June 2016.
• Key to subfamily Limoniinae, by Alan Stubbs, 1998, revised by John Kramer, 2016. Published by the authors as PDF (28 pages); date of latest version: 14 April 2016.
• Key to Limoniid craneflies with a closed discal cell, by Alan Stubbs, 2001, revised by John Kramer, 2016. Published by the authors as PDF (17 pages); date of latest version: 19 June 2018.
• Key to species with an open discal cell, by Alan Stubbs, 2001, revised by John Kramer, 2016. Published by the authors as PDF (24 pages); date of latest version: 24 October 2016.
• Key to species of the genus Molophilus, by Alan Stubbs, revised by John Kramer, 2016. Published by the authors as PDF (9 pages); date of latest version: 25 November 2016.

If you go the the "Literature" section of the Catalogue and search for authors such as Stubbs, Kramer or Boardman you will find PDF downloads for many more articles and papers of interest to cranefly recorders.

Recording scheme newsletters

• Kramer J. 2023. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 40.
• Kramer J. 2022. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 39.
• Kramer J. 2022. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 38.
• Kramer J. 2021. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 37.
• Kramer J. 2021. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 36.
• Kramer J. 2020. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 35.
• Kramer J. 2018. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 34.
• Kramer J. 2018. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 33.
• Kramer J. 2017. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 32.
• Kramer J. 2016. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 31.
• Kramer J. 2015. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 30.
• Kramer J. 2015. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 29.
• Kramer J. 2014. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 28.
• Kramer J. 2014. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 27.
• Kramer J. 2013. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 26.
• Kramer J. 2013. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 25.
• Kramer J. 2012. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 24.
• Kramer J. 2012. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 23.
• Kramer J. 2011. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 22.
• Kramer J. 2011. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 21.
• Kramer J. 2010. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 20.
• Kramer J. 2009. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 19.
• Kramer J. 2009. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 18.
• Kramer J. 2008. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 17.
• Kramer J. 2008. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 16.
• Kramer J. 2007. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 15.
• Kramer J. 2006. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter 14.
• Stubbs A.E. 1973. Cranefly Recording Scheme Newsletter no. 1.