Family Ptychopteridae - Phantom and Fold-winged Crane Flies

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Life Cycle · Works Cited

BG1773 C8149 - Bittacomorpha clavipes - male

(Almost) crane fly - Ptychoptera quadrifasciata - female

Phantom Crane Flies mating - Bittacomorpha clavipes - male - female

Bittacomorpha clavipes? - Bittacomorpha clavipes

yard striped cranefly - Ptychoptera quadrifasciata - male - female

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Diptera (Flies)

No Taxon ("Nematocera" (Non-Brachycera))

Family Ptychopteridae (Phantom and Fold-winged Crane Flies)

Explanation of Names

Ptychopteridae Osten Sacken 1862

Numbers

16 spp. in 3 genera in our area(1), ~160 spp. in 27 genera total(2), but only three are extant(3)

Identification

illustrated key to species in (3)

Bittacomorpha: basitarsi enlarged

Bittacomorphella: similar but smaller and basitarsi not enlarged

Ptychoptera: wings patterned and legs shorter

Range

in NA, most spp. are western; globally, Ptychoptera are represented in all zoogeographic regions except Australasia and the Neotropics, Bittacomorphella is holarctic (NA + e. Asia), and Bittacomorpha is precinctive to NA(4)

Habitat

Near ponds, wetlands

Season

Summer

Life Cycle

Larvae are detritivores in mud of wetlands. Bittacomorpha clavipes, a common species of eastern North America, is seen flying slowly at eye-level, often in open areas. This sure looks like some sort of sexual display.

Works Cited

1.	American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.

2.	Order Diptera Linnaeus, 1758. In: Zhang Z.-Q. (ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification... Pape T., Blagoderov V., Mostovski M.B. 2011. Zootaxa 3148: 222–229.

3.	Phylogeny and diversity of the phantom crane flies (Diptera: Ptychopteridae) Andrew Fasbender. 2014. PhD Thesis.

4.	Manual of Nearctic Diptera Volume 1 Varies for each chapter; edited by J.F. McAlpine, B.V. Petersen, G.E. Shewell, H.J. Teskey, J.R. Vockeroth, D.M. Wood. 1981. Research Branch Agriculture Canada.

Contributed by Cotinis on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by Stephen_WV, Vox Sciurorum, v belov, metrioptera, zdanko
Last updated 23 June, 2024 - 1:44am

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