NEMATOCERA, Tipulomorpha, Tipuloidea

Number of British species: 212

Size: S-M

Difficulty: 1-2

Scheme: Covered by the Cranefly recording scheme

Pale yellow to black, small to very large (2-11 mm, a single species up to 30 mm) Nematocera with slender antennae, legs and abdomen. Rostrum usually short and without nasus; ocelli absent antenna usually with 14-16 segments, in some cases (Hexatoma) less or (Ludicia) more. Thorax with a V-shaped transverse suture. Wing with 2 anal veins; in some cases wing with characteristic markings or wing reduced in females.

The larvae are generally found in various aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats. Some species are terrestrial, living in mosses, mushrooms, bracket fungi, or in dying or decaying wood. A few species are found in brackish or saline habitats. Most larvae feed on rotting vegetable matter, algae mosses, mushrooms, etc. The subfamily Limnophilinae has many species of which the larvae prey on insect larvae, on worms and other small invertebrates. In the subfamily Limoniinae most larvae live in a tube made of strands they have spun and in which they also pupate. Adults are found in several, usually moist habitats, often near those inhabited by their larvae. Males often fly in swarms.

Coe et al. (1950), Edwards (1938a), Geiger (1986), Stubbs (Unpublished)