Tipuloidea 369 



I. Immature stages inhabiting rotten wood and fungi: The larvae 

 mycetophagous, xylophagous, or nekrophytophagous. 



II. Immature stages inhabiting saturated silt, mud, or sand: 



a. The larvae herbivorous, phytophagous, or geophagous (detritus) . 



b. The larvae carnivorous and predacious (cannibalistic under cul- 

 ture conditions). 



III. Immature stages inhabiting wet or damp soil: This group in- 

 cludes both grassland and woodland species; the larvae herbivorous 

 (chiefly rootlets and leaves in contact with the soil) or phytophagous. 



IV. Immature stages inhabiting wet or damp growths of algae, liver- 

 worts, and mosses: A large assemblage of species that overlaps some- 

 what with Groups I and II, and markedly with Group V; principally 

 from hygropetric or neuston situations; the larvae feeding upon the living 

 plants and the accumulations of detritus and micro-flora. 



V. Larvae aquatic, pupae aquatic (Antocha) or semi-aquatic: A con- 

 siderable number of genera and species with habitats that range from 

 strictly aquatic to those of groups I, II, and IV. Typically lotic and 

 lenitic habitats and both herbivorous and predacious food habits are rep- 

 resented. 



SOME GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 



Cultures may be started from either the immature stages or from 

 fertile females taken in the field. In most instances (all unless the larval 

 habitat is known) it is more practicable to begin with the larvae or 

 pupae.* Within each of the groups listed, the various species have more 

 or less specific requirements for culturing that are best learned by observ- 

 ing the conditions of the larval habitat. 



Except for some of the species in Group V, wide-mouthed glass jars or 

 small aquaria with loosely fitting glass lids make satisfactory cages. 

 Stacked finger bowls are useful for the smaller species, and for the younger 

 larvae of larger species if their contents can receive enough diffused day- 

 light to permit photosynthesis (Groups II, III, IV), and if they may 

 be stacked within a large aquarium or other glass enclosure where the 

 evaporation rate may be held uniformly low. Maintenance of the 

 requisite moisture is of first importance. The medium in which the larvae 

 live will need to be moist to saturation, and the air in the space above, 



*The following papers give considerable data on the habitats and methods of collecting 



the immature stages: 



Alexander, C. P. 1920. The craneflies of New York: Part II; Biology and phylogeny. 

 Cornell Univ. Agric. Exper. Sta. Mem. 38:691. 



1931- Deutsche Limnologische Sunda-Expedition; The craneflies. Arch.' fur 



Hydrobiologie, Suppl. Bd. IX, Tropische Binnengewasser 2:135. 



Rogers, J. S. 1933. The summer cranefly fauna of the Cumberland Plateau in Ten- 

 nessee. Occas. Papers Mus. Zool. Univ. Mich. 215:1. 



■ ■ 1933- The ecological distribution of the craneflies of northern Florida. Ecol. 



Monog. 3:1. 



