The Crane- Flies of New York — Part II 999 



The immature stages of the various species are diverse in their habits, 

 ranging from species that are nearly if not quite aquatic, thru the majority 

 of the known forms which Hve in generally moist earth or mud along the 

 margins of water bodies, to still others that live in the semi-decayed 

 wood of prostrate tree trunks. Mellor (1919:64) has recorded Tipula 

 larvae as breeding in manure. So far as is known, the larvae are herbiv- 

 orous, tho they will eat animal food under stress (as described by Patter- 

 son [1908] for Tipula oleracea, which feeds in considerable numbers on 

 earthworms). 



In Europe, a great number of life histories in this genus have been 

 worked out in commendable detail, mainly thru the efforts of Beling, 

 who discusses no fewer than thirty species. His descriptions give a clear 

 idea of the range in structure and habitat to bo expected in the genus. 

 The number of lobes surrounding the spiracular disk varies from four 

 (apparently) in T. selene and related forms, to as many as eight in T. 

 suhnodicornis. Practically all of the known species show the normal 

 tipuline number of lobes, six. 



A summary of the larval habitats of the Palacarctic species .s as follows : 



1. Species living in saturated earth along watercourses or in debris at the water's edge, 

 or species that are aquatic — Tipula fulvipennis de Geer, lateralis Meig., lunata Linn., maxima 

 Poda, variicornis Schum., variipennis Meig., viltata Meig. 



2. Species living in earth, usually in woods, underneath a mold of leaves or coniferous 

 needles — Tipula caesia Schum., dilatata Schum., fulvipennis de Geer, hortensis Meig., 

 hortulana Meig., nigra Linn., nubeculosa Meig., ochracea Meig., pabulina Meig., paludosa 

 Meig., pruinosa Wied., scripta Meig., selene Meig., truncorum Meig., unca Wied., variipennis 

 Meig., viltata Meig. 



3. Species living in earth in gardens, pastures, or meadows, usually beneath turf — Tipula 

 irrorata Macq., luteipennis Meig., nigra Luin., ochracea Meig., oleracea Linn., paludosa Meig., 

 pruirwsa Wied., suhnodicornis Zett., truncorum Meig., vernalis Meig. 



4. Species living in or beneath cushions of moss or in earth overgrown with a mossy 

 covering — Tipula dilatata Schum., hortulana Meig., marmorata Meig., pagana Meig., 

 peliostigma Schum., pruinosa Wied., rufina Meig., signata Staeg., truncorum Meig., uma 

 Wied. 



5. Species living underneath moss on logs — Tipula irrorata Macq. 



6. Species living in decaying wood — Tipula flavolineata Meig., irrorata Macq., truncorum 

 Meig. 



Bouche describes T. lunata and T. ochracea as living in decaying willow 

 wood, and Sopotzko records T. flavolineata as injuring clover; but these 

 records are presumably based on mistaken identifications. 



Comparatively few of the eastern American species have been reared, 

 and it is not considered advisal)le to attempt a key to the larvae or the 

 pupae at this stage of knowledge of the subject. Such a key would 



