THE CRANE-FLIES OF NEW YORK PART II 767 



derived the Pediciini and the Eriopterini on the one hand, the hexato- 

 mine divisions on the other. The highest levels of development of their 

 respective types are apparently Diotrepha (Limnobiini), Dicranota 

 (Pediciini), Gonomyia (Eriopterini), and Hexatoma (Hexatomini). 



The immature stages of the Tipulidae of the antipodal regions (Australia 

 and Chile) are entirely unknown, and their discovery may bring to light 

 striking novelties that may well upset the present ideas of classification. 

 The largest remaining gaps in the present knowledge of the Nearctic 

 fauna relate to the genera Atarba, Toxorhina, Cryptolabis, Phyllolabis, . 

 and Megistocera, but it is not expected that any major groups will have 

 to be created for their reception. 



LIFE HISTORIES OF CRANE-FLIES, WITH KEYS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF 



THE SPECIES 



Various classifications and arrangements of Diptera have been proposed 

 in the past, and the principal evolutionary changes in the entomologist's 

 conception of classification are herein indicated. 



The groupings in the superfamily Tipuloidea have been very diverse. 

 Brauer (1883) separated the eucephalous families from the Tipulidae 

 (Polyneura). Osten Sacken (1893) placed the Tipulidae in the Nemocera 

 vera, the Rhyphidae in the Nemocera anomala. Coquillett (in Howard, 

 1912:85-86) included the Tipulidae in his superfamily Tipuloidea, but 

 separated the Rhyphidae, placing the latter in Bibionoidea. Lameere (1906) 

 gave a classification that had little basis in fact, the Rhyphidae being 

 considered by him as Brachycera and the Ptychopteridae being placed 

 with the Culicidae. Knab (1915), working on the respiratory systems 

 of the larvae, demonstrated the hitherto unnatural groupings of the 

 families of the Nemocera, and arranged the crane-fly families, along 

 with a few others, in the group Polyneura, a group coordinate in rank 

 with the previous conception of the Nematocera. The latest grouping, 

 that of Malloch (191 5- 17 b), was based on a broad knowledge of both the 

 adult flies and the immature stages; and here, for the first time, one gets 

 the true conception of the superfamily limits the inclusion of the 

 Ptychopteridae, the Tipulidae, and the Rhyphidae in a single major group. 

 Malloch's arrangement is herein adopted, with the following exceptions: 

 (1) the Limnobiidae are not held as constituting a separate family, but 

 are united with the Tipulidae; (2) the family Tanyderidae has been 



