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
Pediciidae
genus
Dicranota
“Hairy-eyed Crane Flies”
Genus Overview
69 Species in North America. Predators found throughout the detritus.
Characteristics
POLLUTION TOLERANCE
Southeast: 0 and higher
Upper Midwest: 3 and higher
FEEDING HABITS
Engulfer / Predator
MOVEMENT
Burrower
Sprawler
Sprawler
DISTRIBUTION
Widespread (east of the Rocky Mtns.)
HABITAT
Lentic-littoral
Lotic-depositional
Lotic-erosional
Lotic-depositional
Lotic-erosional
Diagnostic Characters
Order
Legs Absent
Family
Head Capsule Sclerotized and Mostly Retracted
Long Ventral Lobes on Abdominal Apex
Mandibles Moving Horizontally
+ 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:
The head is not evident, but is retracted inside the thorax; there are no segmented legs; abdominal segments have paired fleshy prolegs on five segments or roughened creeping welts on 4 segments; the posterior end of the abdomen has a pair of long slender lobes and sometimes with retractile anal gills below them.
Genus:
Dorsal and lateral lobes of spiracular plate absent, paired prolegs present
Lateral