Bottle-brush Splay Symplecta pilipes

Many sources (including Stubbs and various websites like NatureSpot) have this in a separate genus, Trimicra pilipes.

This came to light in the middle of an arable field. The species is supposed to like the mud at the edge of lakes and reservoirs that dries for part of the year and is inundated for part of the year. There is a pond where this applies roughly 400m away so perhaps that was the source?

Stubbs has this wing length for this specis as 6-11mm but this was a relative giant at 13mm. Indeed when I came to process it I was half-expecting it to be Tipula - I don't think I've seen anything else in the family Limoniidae as big. Once I took a closer look it turns out to be quite a distinctive species with its hairy legs and globose red genitalia.

male Bottle-brush Splay Symplecta pilipes showing wing, thorax, hind tibia and genitalia (2 views before and 2 after clearing), Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 23rd August 2024