Tipuloidea
Tipula paludosa
The Tipuloidea are a superfamily within the (Diptera ), the families of the moss mosquitoes ( Cylindrotomidae ) Stelzmücken ( Limoniidae ), includes Pediciidae and crane flies ( Tipulidae ).
Features
Tipuloidea are slender, long-legged, flying insects of very different sizes. The body length can be from 3 millimeters to 5 centimeters. The Imagines the ocelli are completely regressed or rudimentary. The wings are narrow and elongated and not separated into stem and leaf blade. The cerci of the females are eingliedrig, the males are missing Cerci. In the larvae the head is sunk about halfway into the prothorax and may be based partially dissolved from the rear end. They are usually metapneustisch, so the tracheal system has only one Stigmenöffnung at the end of the abdomen, rare apneustisch, without Stigmenöffnung. Prothorakalstigmen always missing.
Way of life
The adults are usually short-lived, the Tipuloidea with a life span of a few weeks. They usually remain close to the habitat of their larval period. The larvae occur depending on the manner in very different habitats, from stationary and flowing water over moss, rotting material and soils to the interior of plants or even in Tierbauen or bird nests.
System
The Tipuloidea are the sister taxon of the winter mosquitoes ( Trichoceridae ) and are presented with and the Triassic Gnomuscidae together in the partial order Tipulomorpha, which in turn is the sister taxon of all other Diptera. Fossil finds Tipuloidea are, for example, Baltic amber is known, the superfamily probably exists since the Triassic.
Tipuloidea
Winter mosquitoes ( Trichoceridae )
Gnomuscidae
Other Diptera
The living today Tipuloidea include four families with about 15,000 described species in over 600 genera and subgenera.