The Crane-Flies of New York — Part I 775 



which unquestionably will supply many new, chiefly local, records when 

 their contents are made known. 



SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF THE SPECIES 



The families that make up the insects known as crane-flies are four 

 in number — the Tanyderidae, the Ptychopteridae, the Rhyphidae, and 

 the Tipulidae. All but the last-named of these families are very hmited 

 in number of species, the total number of described forms being not far 

 in excess of threescore. Crane-flies belong to the division Nematocera 

 of the suborder Orthorrhapha. They are characterized by having six 

 or more segments in the elongated antennae. The only famiUes of flies 

 with which crane-flies might be confused are the Bibionidae and the 

 Dixidae. 



Crane-flies are very often of large size. They are the largest of the 

 Nematocera and are among the largest of all Diptera. The differences 

 in size found in the fainily TipuUdae are very great, ranging from the 

 giants of the family, Ctenacroscelis praepotens, Tipula brohdinagia, and 

 others, down to such species as Erioptera parva and Molophilus ursinus, 

 veritable pygmies. In the area considered in this paper, the largest 

 species found are Longurio testaceus and Tipula abdominalis, and the small- 

 est is Molophilus ursinus. 



In appearance crane-flies may be described as mosquito-Uke and they 

 are very often mistaken for mosquitoes, the larger species often causing 

 great alarm. There are no crane-flies, however, that have the biting 

 habits of the Culicidae. The legs of all crane-flies are long and slender, 

 in some cases being exceedingly so, and this feature has given most of the 

 common names that are applied to these insects — crane-flies, daddy 

 longlegs, and the like. The wings are many-veined (polyneura), and in 

 most species they possess a completely inclosed discal cell (1st Mi). 

 In all Tipulidae and in the trichocerine Rhyphidae there are two anal 

 veins, a character never possessed by the more speciaUzed Nematocera. 

 On the mesonotum there is a distinct, more or less transverse, V-shaped 

 suture separating the prescutum from the scutum. In the Tanyderidae, 

 the Ptychopteridae, and the Rhyphidae this suture is rather poorly defined. 

 Ocelli are found only in the Rhyphidae. The large size, the inclosed 

 discal cell, the presence of two anal veins, and the V-shaped suture, are 

 sufficient to distinguish the local species of TipuUdae. 



