order
                        
                     
                                    Coleoptera
                                       “Adult Beetles”
                                 
                                    Coleoptera
                                       “Larval Beetles”
                                 
                                    Diptera
                                       “True Flies”
                                 
                                    Ephemeroptera
                                       “Mayflies”
                                 
                                    Hemiptera
                                       “True Bugs”
                                 
                                    Lepidoptera
                                       “Aquatic Caterpillars, Snout Moths”
                                 
                                    Megaloptera
                                       “Alderflies, Dobsonflies, and Fishflies”
                                 
                                    Odonata
                                       “Dragonflies and Damselflies”
                                 
                                    Plecoptera
                                       “Stoneflies”
                                 
                                    Trichoptera
                                       “Caddisflies”
                                 family
                        
                     Tipulidae
            
               “Large Crane Flies”
            
      Family Overview
                  
               
                           Tipulidae
                              
                              
                        
                           
                              
                        Large Crane Flies
                     
                        Until recently, Tipulidae included all species of "crane flies." As now more strictly defined, this widespread family includes at least 53 species in North America. Larvae of some species are terrestrial, but aquatic larvae inhabit quiet areas of streams and shores of lakes, burrowing in the soil, often among roots, shredding living and dead plant material.
                  
               Characteristics
                  
               POLLUTION TOLERANCE
                        No pollution tolerance ranges defined.
                        FEEDING HABITS
                        
                                 Shredder / Detritivore
                        
                     MOVEMENT
                        
                                 Burrower
                        
                     Diagnostic Characters
               order
                     
                                       
                                    Legs Absent
                                 family
                        
                                       
                                    Head Capsule Sclerotized and Mostly Retracted
                                 
                                       
                                    Lobed Posterior Spiracles with Hair
                                 
                                       
                                    Mandibles Moving Horizontally
                                 
                  + Expanded Character List
                  
                     
               
            
                        Order:
                           Wings and wing pads absent. Eye spots sometimes visible, but compound eyes absent. Segmented legs absent, but sometimes fleshy prolegs present. Sometimes with distinct head, often without head or with head drawn deeply into thorax. Body flattened, cylindrical, or maggot-like.
                     
                     
                        Family:
                           Larvae lacking fleshy projections on thoracic and abdominal segments. Posterior spiracular disc bordered by 6 (rarely 8) lobes (2 dorsal, 2 dorsolateral, 2 ventral); lobes usually subconical, sometimes short and blunt. As for all crane flies, adults usually large, with long legs and V-shaped sutures on top of mesothorax, but terminal segment of each maxillary palp longer than previous 2 segments combined and antennae each 13-segmented.
                     
                  Dorsal
               Lateral
               


                                                
                                             