268 TIPULID^. 



Family X. TIPULID^. 



TiPULiDvE, Hal. I. B. D. i. 7 (1851). Tipularm Terricolce p., Latr. ; 

 Mcq. Tlpulariae rostratm p., Meig. 



Mesotlioracis scutum sutura transversa angulosa. 



Scutum of the mesonotum with an angular transverse seam. 



The species of this Tamily are called Crane-flies^ or Daddy 

 Long-legs, and are at once distinguished by the length of their 

 legs. The larvse feed on roots, fungi, wood, and decaying vege- 

 table substances, and in a few cases are aquatic. 



The flies much exceed all the other Nemocera in size and in 

 variety of structure, and very many of the exotic genera are quite 

 distinct from the European forms. The genus Chionea is not 

 only remarkable in being wingless, but also from its occurring 

 only on snow in winter, and most often on new-fallen snow. The 

 head is generally more or less prolonged in front. The fourth 

 joint of the palpi in some genera is long, flexible, and as it were 

 jointed. The antennae are tihform or setaceous, occasionally ver- 

 ticillate- pilose or pectinated, sometimes of great length in the 

 male. The transverse suture of the mesothorax is peculiar to the 

 Family, and the metathorax is often elongated. The wings are 

 long and narrow, and generally contain a discal areolet. The ab- 

 domen and the legs are very long and slender, and the female has 

 a horny pointed oviduct. The peculiar structure of the Family 

 has most development in the genus Tlpula. 



Mr. Haliday has kindly contributed the synopsis of the genera 

 of Tijmlidce, and I am also indebted to him for some of the fol- 

 lowing notes. I have reunited to Limnohia the genera which 

 have been separated from it ; for in some cases nearly allied spe- 

 cies have been placed in different genera, and Limnohia, without 

 them, would still comprise several equivalent or more distinct 

 groups than those which have been removed from it ; the synopsis 

 is accordingly altered so as to indicate those genera without adopt- 

 ing them. Erioptera lateralis, Mcq., is included in Limnohia, as 

 it appears to be most nearly allied to that genus, though its mid- 

 dle legs are a little shorter than the others. 



