Despite this supposedly being a widespread and locally common species, I had never knowingly seen Tipula fascipennis, the White-barred long-palp cranefly, until very recently. And, though many craneflies are difficult to identify, this one has some very distinctive characteristics. According to Alan Stubbs in British Craneflies, ‘the discal cell is unusually short’, ‘the male genitalia are very prominent’ and ‘the female has a very short ovipositor’. While I might notice the latter, I’m not likely to pick up on the previous two features, but, fortunately, there is one other very obvious characteristic: ‘the wings are unique’ due to the fairly obvious white bar across them. Tipula fascipennis adults can typically be seen between May and August, peaking in late June, in meadows and along the edges of woodlands.