The Crane-Flibs of New York — Part I 885 



There are two described species of Bittacomorpha inhabiting the 

 Nearctic region, one, Bittacomorpha clavipes (Fabr.), in the East, and 

 one, B. occidentalis Aid., in the West. B. clavipes has been reported from 

 Brazil but the record needs confirmation. 



Bittacomorpha, or the "phantom crane-fly," is among the most inter- 

 esting of the local genera. The larger and commoner eastern species, B. 

 clavipes, is one of the most abundant and widely distributed of the North 

 American crane-flies, and inhabits wet swales, swamps, margins of ponds, 

 and similar situations. The legs are curiously banded with black and 

 white. The thoracic dorsum is deep velvety black with a white median 

 line. The swollen metatarsi are unique among the local crane-flies. 

 The wing is shown in Plate XXX, 3. The larva of this species is very 

 similar in structure to that of species of Ptychoptera, but is easily 

 distinguished by the rust-red tomentum which completely covers the 

 body. Both these genera have the extensile breathing tube in the larva, 

 and the single enormously produced breathing spiracle in the pupa. The 

 larvae are common in rotting organic vegetable matter which is 

 percolated and saturated with running water. The adult flies are 

 very conspicuous and attract considerable attention even among 

 persons who are not greatly interested in insects. The long, swollen 

 legs, radiating out from the body like the spokes from the hub of a wheel 

 and conspicuously banded with black and white, make the flies noticeable 

 as they drift slowly thru the air, apparently as light as bits of down. 



Genus Bittacomorphella Alexander 



1916 Bittacomorphella Alex. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 545. 



The genus Bittacomorphella includes two known species, both of the 

 Nearctic region. Of these, Bittacomoi'phella jonesi (Johns.) is eastern, 

 and the larger species, B. sackenii (Roder), is western. The better-known 

 of the two species, B. jonesi, is locally common in cold, shaded situations, 

 as along dark ravines, near running water, or beneath dark bridges and 

 culverts. The curious black larva is found in mud or moist earth, in 

 haunts similar to those described for the adult. The flies are readily 

 distinguished from those of the larger and somewhat similar Bittacomorpha 

 clavipes by the metatarsi, which an^ not swollen and have no white near 

 thv base but are marked with more or less white at the tips, these white 

 markings being broadest on the fore legs and narrowest on the hind legs. 



