Crane fly larva? from Florissant CO

[Earendil]

A rather strange insect from the Florissant Formation of Colorado, looks like a larva or some sort of soft bodied insect.

The first piece, in better condition:

And the second piece:

 

I can definitely see segments and it seems to be a close match to this Tipula hepialina (crane fly) pupa from the iDigPaleo system:

Do you guys think it fits? Thanks in advance!

[Mark Kmiecik]

I'm not an expert on Florissant, but it looks like a good match to me.

[Top Trilo]

It looks like it matches, cool fine, its a nice size.

[Earendil]

1 hour ago, Top Trilo said:

It looks like it matches, cool fine, its a nice size.

Thanks! I've read that crane fly larvae and pupae are called leatherjackets because they have a tough brown casing, which would explain how it was more likely to fossilize. It is a bit smaller than most extant crane fly larvae however, (less than 1 inch vs. the regular 2-3 inches) which makes me think it might be pretty early in development. It's certainly interesting.

[Top Trilo]

2 minutes ago, yardrockpaleo said:

It is a bit smaller than most extant crane fly larvae however, (less than 1 inch vs. the regular 2-3 inches) which makes me think it might be pretty early in development. It's certainly interesting.

I know nothing about size of extant crane fly larvae (until now). I was more referring to, for a Florissant larva, its pretty big, as most are only a couple mm long.