Tipulidae Explained

Tipulidae is a family of large crane flies in the order Diptera. There are more than 30 genera and 4,200 described species in Tipulidae, common and widespread throughout the world.

A crane fly can usually be identified as a member of Tipulidae by its maxillary palps, which is the pair appendages that hang down from the front of its head. If the fourth segment (the farthest from the body) of the maxillary palp is longer than the other three combined, then it is likely to be a member of Tipulidae. Also, there are usually 13 segments in the antennae of large crane flies, compared to 14 or 16 in the common limoniid crane flies.

The oldest fossils that can be assigned confidently to Tipulidae sensu stricto are those of the genus Tipunia, which date to the Late Jurassic.^{[1] [2]}

Genera

These 39 genera belong to the family Tipulidae:

• Acracantha Skuse, 1890
• Angarotipula Savchenko, 1961
• Austrotipula Alexander, 1920
• Brachypremna Osten Sacken, 1886
• Brithura Edwards, 1916
• Clytocosmus Skuse, 1890
• Ctenophora Meigen, 1803
• Dictenidia Brullé 1833
• Dolichopeza Curtis, 1825
• Elnoretta Alexander, 1929
• Euvaldiviana Alexander, 1981
• Goniotipula Alexander, 1921
• Holorusia Loew
• Hovapeza Alexander, 1951
• Hovatipula Alexander, 1955
• Idiotipula Alexander, 1921
• Indotipula Edwards, 1931
• Ischnotoma Skuse, 1890
• Keiseromyia Alexander, 1963
• Leptotarsus Guerin-meneville, 1838
• Macgregoromyia Alexander, 1929
• Maekistocera Wiedemann, 1821
• Nephrotoma Meigen, 1803 (tiger crane flies)
• Nigrotipula Hudson & Vane-Wright, 1969
• Orithea Meigen, 1800
• Ozodicera Macquart, 1834
• Phoroctenia Coquillett, 1910
• Platyphasia Skuse, 1890
• Prionocera Loew, 1844
• Prionota van der Wulp, 1885
• Pselliophora Osten-Sacken, 1887
• Ptilogyna Westwood, 1835
• Scamboneura Osten Sacken, 1882
• Sphaerionotus de Meijere, 1919
• Tanyptera Latreille, 1804
• Tipula Linnaeus, 1758
• Tipulodina Enderlein, 1912
• Valdiviana Alexander, 1929
• Zelandotipula Alexander, 1922

Notes and References

1. Lukashevich . Elena D. . Ribeiro . Guilherme C. . 2019-04-18 . Mesozoic fossils and the phylogeny of Tipulomorpha (Insecta: Diptera) . Journal of Systematic Palaeontology . en . 17 . 8 . 635–652 . 10.1080/14772019.2018.1448899 . 89966924 . 1477-2019.
2. Kopeć . Katarzyna . Soszyńska . Agnieszka . Coram . Robert A. . Krzemiński . Wiesław . July 2023 . New species of the enigmatic genus Tipunia (Diptera, Tipulidae) from the Upper Jurassic of Kazakhstan and Lower Cretaceous of England . Cretaceous Research . en . 147 . 105512 . 10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105512. 257262387 .