Which end is up? Identifying crane fly larvae

Problems with crane flies — or actually, with their larvae, known as leatherjackets — are on the rise as temperatures warm. For this reason, it's good to be able to ID these strange insect pests, so that you can act accordingly.

It looks like just a mass of protoplasm without any discernible features, but in fact the leatherjacket (larva of the crane fly) can cause quite a bit of damage to turf (see this PACE Reference on crane flies), despite…