CATALOGUE OF INSECTS. 



629 



Family TIPULIDiE. 



Fig. 295. — A crane fly, Pachyrrhina Sp. 



These are the "Crane-flies," which resemble exaggerated mosquitoes \ in 

 appearance, and derive their common name from their immensely long, 

 ungainly, slender legs. The head is often prolonged into a sort of blunt 

 snout, at the end of which are the prominent palpi, which are sometimes as 

 long as the antennae. 



The species are most common in low meadows or at the edges of woodland, 

 and their flight is as uncertain and awkward as their appearance. One of the 

 prettiest species is Bittacomorpha clavipes, which is not uncommon along 

 ditches in cranberry bogs. It is contrastingly marked with black and white, 

 and the legs are enlarged at the tips of the separate joints. It is difficult to 

 preserve these insects because the legs break off at the least provocation, even 

 when they are alive. Thus far we have been unable to find any satisfactory use 

 for these unreasonably long members, which in the males are sometimes longer 

 than in the females. 



The larvae of most of these flies are slender, cylindrical, worm-like, and very 

 tough, whence they are known as "wire worms" in England, where they are 

 often injurious in sod land and on root crops. This type lives in the soil, and 

 may feed on either living or dead vegetation. A few feed on leaves and some- 

 what resemble caterpillars, but in no case are they injurious in New Jersey, so 

 far as I have had any knowledge of them. 



