578 
DIPTEEA. 
Tipulim. 
“ Daddy long-legs ” or Crane-flies. Often large thin flies with long fragile 
legs. There is nearly always a V-sharped groove on the rounded thorax , 
and a discal cell present. The costal vein goes all round the wing. 
Antennae 6—19, palpi 4-5 joints. 
The Crane-flies vary in size from that of a small mosquito to flies 
having a wing-spread of 3-4 inches. As a rule they may be easily 
recognised by the Y-shaped thoracic suture, and by their legs breaking 
off when they are caught, the latter peculiarity making it rather diffi¬ 
cult to get perfect specimens. As is shown in the figure, the venation 
is complete, i.e ., it has suffered but little of that coalescence and reduction 
in the number of veins which is met with in some of the more 
specialized families such as the Cecidomyiids or the Muscids (e.g., the 
House-fly). 
This is one of the reasons why these flies (especially that section of 
them called Limnobiince , some of whose larvae are caterpillar-like in 
appearance and habits) are often considered to be among the most old- 
fashioned and conservative of Diptera, departing comparatively little 
from the primitive type. They are frequently found in amber, together 
with other flies of which the great majority belong to the division 
Nemocera. As a rule the Tipulids are dull brown, blackish or yellowish 
in colour, and one or two European species are wingless. 
The sexes are very easily distinguished, the male having the tip of 
the abdomen bluntly swollen and provided with a complex armament 
of claspers, while the horny sheath of the female ovipositor is long and 
tapering. 
The eggs are generally cylindrical, sometimes a little tapering at 
the ends, and dark in colour. The females may sometimes be seen at 
dusk in damp grassy places flying up and down among the grass in a 
curiously crazy and aimless fashion. If they are carefully watched, how¬ 
ever, it will be seen that every now and then, when the long sharp 
ovipositor comes in contact with the ground, an egg is deposited ; what 
looked like weakness of intellect turns out to be part of the most 
important act in the insect’s life. The larvae live as a rule in damp 
surroundings, in wet earth, under bark, or in putrid water, and some 
possess long tubes from the tail-end so that they can breathe while 
