Tue CRANE-F Lies 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 Ald., in the West. 8B. 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, Bittacomorphella jonest (Johns.) is eastern, 
and the larger species, B. sackenii (Réder), is western. The better-known 
of the two species, B. jones, 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 are not swollen and have no white near 
the 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. 
