Ileprinted lront Tun ltln-Plctrtc Extolroloctst
V o l . 4 5 , J a n u a r y , 1 9 6 9 ,N o . I
pp. 5l-53
Mude in United States ol America

e2 5

A New Subfamily of Winter Crane Flies(Diptera : Trichoceridae)

Cnanrns P. AIBXANDER
Amherst. M assachusetts

The Trichoceridae, or so-calledwinter crane flies, include five generawith approximately one hundred species,the great majority being in
the typical genus T richocera. One of these genera, Kawasernyia ltlex'ander, is so different from the others that a new subfamily, the Kawasemyinae, is here proposed for it.
The four genera retained in the older subfamily Trichocerinae are
Trichocera Meigen, 1803, which is chiefly holarctic in distribution, withslight extensions southward into the oriental and neotropical regions,and with certain speciesthat have been transported evidently throughcommerce to certain remote islands in the southern hemisphere. Oneof these,T. regelationis (Linnaeus) was placed in a supposednew genus,
Trichocerodes, by Brdthes, 1925 from the South Georgia and Falklandislands in the south Atlantic, while another, T. maculipennis Meigen,similarly was described in a supposed new genus, Palaeopetaurista,byS6guy, L940, from the Kerguelen islands in the Indian ocean. The second genus is Diazosma Bergroth, 1913, with a single species that is
widespread throughout the Holarctic region. Paraclnd,ura Brunetti,
1911, with relatively few species,has a very discontinuous distributionthat includes the oriental and eastern palaearctic regions, western North
America, southern South America, eastern Australia and New Zealand.
The fourth genus,,Nothotrichocera Alexander, 1926, has a few species
in eastern Australia and the subantarctic islands of New Zealand. The
outstanding present student of the family is Dr. Christine Dahl, of the
Zoological Institute of the University of Lund, Sweden (Dahl, 1966,re67).
Dr. Masaaki Tokunaga ( 1935) describedas Alfred'in imanishii, aremarkablesubapterousTrichocerid fly from the JapaneseAlps. The
following year Tokunaga (1936) placedthis speciesin the genusTri'on the femalesex,the male being unknownto him at thatchocerabased
rime. The discovery of this sex in 1935 by Mr. Eiji Kawase and its
later study by Alexander ( 1952) showed that in wing venation andstructure the fly was entirely different from all other membersof thefamily and a new genusKawasemyiawas proposedfor it. More recently
Dr. Kintaro Baba secured further materials of both sexes and thefly is known satisfactorily(Alexander,1956: 79-80). The range of
TuB pex-pecrrrc Exrouor.ocrsr ,[5: 5l_53. January1969

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THE PAN-PACIFIC ENTOMOLOGIST[VOl.

45, NO. I

Sct

IstA

fc'Cu,'il,*,l[r+aFrc. l. Venation of Trichocera hiemalis (De Geer). Frcs. Z, g. Venation ofKawasemyiairnanishii (Tokunga). Venationalsymbolsi A, Anal; Cu, Cubitus;
M, Media i R, Radiusi Sc, Subcosta.

Kawasemyia irnanishii (Tokunaga) in Japan as known to me is re.
stricted to the province of Echigo in Honshu but undoubtedly it will befound to have a wider range. From analogousdistribution patterns ofcertain other Diptera, the genusmight conceivablybe found to occur inwestern North America.
As has been emphasizedin earlier papers, the general features aremuch as in Trichocera, including the antennae, legs, and genitalia ofboth sexes. The subapterouscondition of the female is unique in thefamily while the wing structure and venation precludes its inclusion in
the Trichocerinae. The venation of Trichocera and Kawasernyin are
shown herewith for comparison.
Trichocera, and,all other genera in the Trichocerinae (fig. t) show
the venation with twelve veins that attain the margin, with R and,Meach with four branches,and with two completeAnal veins. Vein Sc iselongate,with Scz far retracted, vein Rz always preserved,and with theprearcular field short but with all elements of venation preserved anddistinct. Kawasemyin (figs. 2,3), the only genusin the Kawasemyinae,
has only seven veins attaining the margin, R with t}ree branches,
M with two branches, and without Anal veins. Vein Sc is short, withJANUARY I9(i9]

ALExANDER-NEw cRANE FLY SUBFAMILY

53

Sc2 close to the tip of Sc1, vein Rz lacking, and the prearcular field
greatly reduced. There evidently is much variation in the venation, asshown, for example, by the figure provided earlier (Alexander, 1952:15) as contrastedwith the two provided at this time. The short seriesof malesavailable to me appearsto indicate that the normal venation isabout as in fig. 2. In fig. 3 cell R3 shows an adventitiousvein. Also ofnote in the wing are the elongate marginal trichia that completely encircle the wing, thesebeing very long and sparse,widely spacedand in asingle row, being of approximately equal length on both the costal andposterior margins. In the Trichocerinaethe costal trichia are short andvery numerousand in severalrows, those of the posterior margin longer
and more delicate,approachingthe condition found in Kawasernyiabut
more numerousand crowded.
Additional important referencesinclude: Alexander (1927) , Alexander and Alexander (L967) , Esaki (1950), and Tokunaga (1938).
Llrrn,q.ruRECITED
Arnxlrvorn, C. P. 1927. The Trichoceridae of Australia (Diptera). Proc.
Linnean Soc. N. S. W., 5I: 299-3M, 11 figs.
1952. A new genusof Trichoceridaefrom Japan (Diptera). Trans. Shikoku
Entomol. Soc.,3: I4nI6, I fig. (Kawasemyin).
1956. Undescribedspeciesof NematocerousDiptera. Part IV. Bull. Brooklyn Entomol.Soc.,5l: 75-8I.
Ar.sxlNnrn, C. P. ,lxo M. M. Ar.ex.lNnsn. 1967. A catalogueof the Diptera ofthe Americassouth of the United States (S5o Paulo). Fasc.3. Family
Trichoceridae,pp. l-4.
DaHL, C. 1966. Noteson the taxonomyand distribution of SwedishTrichoceridae(Dipt., Nemat.). OpusculaEntomol.,3l: 93-118, 72 figs.
1967. Noteson the taxonomyand distribution of Arctic and SubarcticTrichoceridae (Dipt. Nem.) from Canada,Alaska and Greenland. Opuscula
Entomol., 32: 49-78,83 figs.
Esexr, T., et al. 1950. Iconographia Insectorum Japonicorum, Ed. 2: l-1738,4937 figs., 15 col. plates (reference p. 1512, fig. 4337; adult g, asTrichocero\.
TorunlcA, M. f935. Three new crane-fliesfrom Japan. Annot. Zool. Jap., l5:194-198,6 figs., 2 plates (pl. 14, Iig. 2, adult g , as Allredia imanishii) .
1936. Three marine crane-fliesfrom Japan. Annot. Zool. Jup., 15: 46G-4'68,18 figs.; Appendixop. 458 (as Trichocera imanishii) .
1938. New or little-known Trichoceridaefrom Japan (Diptera). Tenthredo,
2: 137-L48,2 pls., with 3l figs.