31 



Family Trichoceridae — The Winter Crane Flies 



Small or medium-sized flies of slender build, the antennas elongate, 

 setaceous. Three ocelli. Wings with m-cu lying far distad; two com- 

 plete Anal veins, 2nd A very short, incurved to anal angle, slightly 

 longer and more extended in Diazosyna. Male hypopygium with a single 

 dististyle, this cylindrical or with a variously developed lobe on basal 

 portion of mesal face. Ovipositor with cerci upcurved, the convexity 

 being on the ventral surface. 



The so-called "winter crane flies" are most numerous in Spring 

 and Fall, though sometimes abundant during mild days of Winter. 

 They are usually found in large to small swarms in the open, but may 

 be found in cellars, mines and similar places. The immature stages 

 occur in decaying vegetable matter. 



There are 4 valid genera with about 45 described species. Tri- 

 chocera is essentially a genus of the northern Hemisphere; Diazosma is 

 represented only by 2 species, with a wide distribution in the Holarctic 

 region. ParacJndura has several species in New Zealand and Chile, 

 with a few others in eastern Asia; a single species (trichoptera O.S.) is 

 found on our Pacific coast. 



KEY TO GENERA 



1. Wings with vein 2nd A subsinuate, not short and curved abruptly into 



the anal angle; north temperate Diazosma Bergroth 



Wings with vein 2nd A short, curved abruptly into the anal angle 2 



2. Tibial spurs present; tarsi with basitarsus longer than segments 2 and 



3 taken together; (* fig. 13); north temperate to arctic. 



Trichocera Meigen 

 Tibial spurs lacking; basitarsus very .short, only two or three times as 

 long as wide, shorter than the third tarsal segment; western. 



Paracladura Brunetti 

 The most important recent literature: 



Alexander, C. P. 



1919. The crane-flies of New York. Part I. Distribution and taxonomy 



of the adult files. Cornell Univ. Agr. Expt. Sta., Mem. 25, pp. 

 887-888, figs. 165, 166. 



1920. The same. Part II. Biology and Phylogeny. Ibid. Mem. 38, 



pp. 789-791, pi. 19 (larva and pupa). 

 1926. The Trichoceridae of Australia (Diptera). Proc. Linnean Soc. 

 New South Wales, 51, pp. 299-304, 11 figs, (key to genera). 



• Plate II, Tipuloidea. 



