FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. 



NEMATOCERA 



TlPULID^E 



These are the Crane-flies or Daddy Long-legs those 

 who complain 



"My six long legs, all here and there, 

 Oppress my bosom with despair." 



The long legs and the V-shaped suture between the wings 

 usually distinguish this family from other true flies. 

 They are sometimes mistaken for mosquitoes and the large 

 ones some are over two inches long are blamed on New 

 Jersey ; but they do not bite. I cannot tell you how to keep 

 the legs on your specimens. Chionea valga is wingless 

 and is found in northern United States crawling about 

 over the snow. Bittacomorpha clavipes has black legs with 

 white bands; its larva lives in shallow, debris-clogged 

 water. The larva of Tipula abdominalis (Plate LXIII) is 

 also aquatic. The aquatic larvae are both vegetarians and 

 carnivors. Tipulid larvae are sometimes called "leather 

 jackets" and many of them are found in decaying vegeta- 

 tion on dry land; others under bark and in fungi; some 

 feed, at least incidentally, on roots; and a few, such as 

 Cylindrotoma, on the leaves of violets, anemones, and 

 other terrestrial plants. The pupae are slim affairs with 

 relatively short wing-cases. 



PSYCHODID^ 



These thickly haired Moth Flies are rarely more than a 

 sixth of an inch long. They fly but weakly in shady 

 places, on windows, and in outhouses; and are often abun- 

 dant at lights. Their larvae live in decaying vegetation, 

 in dung, and in water. 



DIXID.E 



Rather long-legged, nearly hairless flies. The larvae 

 are aquatic and resemble those of mosquitoes. The 

 adults are usually found about moist places in forests, 

 sometimes dancing in swarms. 



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