c A REVIEW OF THE TIPULIDAE OF AUSTRALIA (DIPTERA). I. Introduction; Historical; Dtstribution. Subfamily Tipulinae: Clytocosmus Skuse. By Charles P. Alexander, Massachusetts State College, Amherst, Mass., U.S.A. (Plate ii; four Text-figures.) [Read 30th March, 19 32.] Introduction. The crane-flies (family Tipulidae) are among the most generalized of all existing Dipterous insects. The family is particularly numerous in species in the Australian fauna, with approximately 550 valid described species (end of 1930), the great majority of which are from the mountainous sections of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. This particular area must be considered as being fairly well known, although numerous additions to the list will be made as a result of further collecting at different seasons, at all possible stations, particularly in the mountains, and by investigation of hitherto neglected ecological habitats. Crane-flies are notable lovers of moisture and almost all are to be found in damp, shady places, as along woodland streams, among ferns in the gullies, around damp spots in low-lying pockets on mountain slopes, on the wet, vertical faces of cliffs, in and about the margins of sphagnum bogs, in helophytic associa-tions having little or no shrubbery or tree growth, and, in fact, in a great variety of minor ecological societies where there is some amount of moisture. An excel-lent idea of the haunts of Victorian Tipulidae is given in the paper by Wilson (concerning crane-flies, Yict. Nat., 46, 1929, 88-94). Some species of these flies are extremely local, occurring in certain restricted habitats while being entirely absent from other apparently suitable stations near by. Many of the smaller types are not in evidence during the hours of sunlight, lurking among the bases of close-growing sedges or rushes and becoming active only at sundown, then appearing in small dancing swarms during the hours of twilight or night. From the above statements it will become apparent that in any country, even in Europe and eastern North America, where the Tipulid fauna has been particularly well collected and studied, previously unknown species are still being discovered. Crane-flies occurring in the mountains are apt to be more limited in range than are coastal species, the more widely distributed of such mountain forms being found at low altitudes In Tasmania, at increasing heights in the Victorian and Australian Alps, while in the northern part of their range, as at Barrington Tops, they are found only at considerable altitudes (5,000 feet and higher). The only monographic treatment of this group of flies for the Australian fauna is that by Skuse (1889-1890), a notable work that is rendered obsolete only by the great accession of new forms. A few groups of Diptera that were held to be Tipulidae by older workers and were so considered by Skuse have since been removed to separate families and since they have already been discussed by the o
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