Maupiti is a small island west of Tahiti in French Polynesia. The island has no permanent rivers yet holds an important diversity of aquatic fauna. Maupiti has a main island, of volcanic origin, and is surrounded by five additional coral islets. We have found four species of crane flies in our survey of the Diptera. Sampling was done using malaise traps and yellow pan traps in different habitats. We compared Tipulidae presence in a total of four localities: open ocean beach, lagoon beach, volcanic island beach, and inland at various elevations. The first two localities are found on the coral islets while the last two localities on the volcanic island. Differences in distribution of species in localities can be explained by proximity to temporary freshwater and brackish water sources.  The crane flies are a substantial part of a rather depauperate freshwater insect fauna on these islands.