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
                        
                     Limoniidae
               
            
                  “Limoniid Crane Flies”
               
      Genus Overview
                  
               
                        7 species in North America. As adults they hold and fold their wings along their back. They are one of the few genera found in flowing water.           
                  
               Characteristics
                  
               POLLUTION TOLERANCE
                        Southeast: 4.6 and higher
                                 Upper Midwest: 3 and higher
                                 Midwest: 2.2 and higher
                              0 = least tolerant, 10 = most tolerant
                        FEEDING HABITS
                        
                                 Collector / Gatherer
                        
                     MOVEMENT
                        
                                 Clinger
                        
                     DISTRIBUTION
                        
                                 Widespread (east of the Rocky Mtns.)
                        
                     HABITAT
                        
                                 Lotic-erosional
                        
                     Diagnostic Characters
               Order
                        
                                       
                                       
                                    Legs Absent
                                 Family
                        
                                       
                                       
                                    Head Retracted in Thorax
                                 
                                       
                                       
                                    Posterior Spiracles with Lobes
                                 Genus
                        
                                       
                                       
                                    Creeping Welts
                                 
                  + 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:
                           Mandibles moving against one another along an horizontal or oblique plane. Hardened head capsule always deeply retracted inside thorax; often with length-wise incisions of varying depths beginning at posterior margin of head, and extending forward; in extreme cases head consisting of only several slender rods (visible only via disection of thorax). Spiracles absent (apneustic) or with 1 pair at posterior end of body (metapneustic); posterior spiracles rimmed by 2–7 (usually 5) lobes often fringed with hair. Mature larvae usually 10–25 mm long. 
                     
                     
                        Genus:
                           Tracheal system is closed, no spiracles present, dorsal and ventral creeping welts present on 2-7 abdominal segments
                     
                  
                  
            Dorsal
               Lateral
               


