Observation: I've never seen [this insect] out in November in Masset, Haida Gwaii before. Had 3 [individuals] in the house this morning. I have been on Haida Gwaii for 50 years and have never seen [these insects] in November, that’s what was unusual for me and my observation. -- John Disney, Economic Development Officer, Masset, Haida Gwaii.
[John also provided a photograph] (see Figure 1)
Comment by Tom Okey, LEO BC Coordinator: Drs. Peter Belton and Robert Cannings provided comments (below) in which they consider this insect species to be in the family Tanyderidae, based on the photograph that Mr. Disney provided. Tanyderids are commonly called 'primitive crane flies'. The search term Tanyderidae produced only 29 published papers in the Web of Knowledge database, and none of these papers focused on range and distribution of this family. BugGuide included only a data sparse occurrence map for this family of flies. Given John Disney's 50-year observational presence in Masset, Haida Gwaii, this observation indicates that some change in this species' seasonal timing or distribution may have occurred. More such observations would be required to evaluate whether such a shift has occurred. Dr. Belton implies that it would be useful to capture and identify the species.
A warmer than usual climate in 2015 could be one cause of a possible change in this species. The Northeast Pacific coast and ocean was also anomalously warm throughout 2015 (see Figure 2) 2015 was not only the warmest year on record globally, but , meaning that John Disney's novel observation of these primitive crane flies in November 2015 is consistent with such novel climate conditions. It is reasonable that this unusual observation was the result of unusually warm weather, but this is speculation.
Consult by Dr. Peter Belton: My guess would be a tanyderid, with those long legs and fancy wings, but Rob Cannings is the expert. I have no idea of its distribution, seasonality or how it overwinters, or what it was doing in the house. -- Dr. Peter Belton, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University Burnaby BC
Consult by Dr. Robert A. Cannings: Peter's guess that it might be a fly in the family Tanyderidae is a good one, and he might be correct. I can't really tell as I'm not all that familiar with the group (although Peter is correct in stating that our species have patterned wings). Also, the family is pretty uncommon in BC. For many of these insect families, specimens and microscope examination are required for accurate identification. -- Dr. Robert Cannings, Curator Emeritus of Entomology, Royal British Columbia Museum.
Resources:
Wikipedia page for Tanyderidae
Tree of Life page for Tanyderidae
BugGuide page for Tanyderidae
Observations From Members 