A synopsis of part of the Neotropical crane-flies ofthe subfamily Limnobinae
C P Alexander
Proceedings of the United States National Museum 44:481-549 (1913)
http://biostor.org/reference/13772
Keywords: Aguna; Antochini; Erioptera (Mesocyphona); Eriopterini; Geranomyia; Lecteria; Limnobia;Limnophilini; Mongoma; Polymera

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H*gffiffi o Q--\\u.:+A SYNOPSISOF PART OF THE NEOTROPICALCRANE-FLIESOF TI]E St BFAMILY
LIMNOBIN,A

BY
CHARLES P. ALEXANDER
Of the natooological

1966.-FromLaboratoryof Coroell Uoiversity, Itbaca, New Yorkthe Proceedings of the United States National Museum,Yol. M, pages 481-549, with Plates 65-68

PublishedApril 30, 1913

Washington
Government Printing Office
1913

i'i.t ? d.1F

14*P

A SYNOPSISOF'PART OF' THE NEOTROPICALCRANE-F'LIES
OF THE ST]^BX'AMILYLIMNOBIN.|A.
By Cuanr_nsp. Ar,nxl.NDER,OJ thc Entarnolagba.lLaboratory of Cornell Ud,er$,ty, Ithaca, New yqrft.

INTRODUCTION.
The present paper is the partiar resurt of the study of someexten.
sive collections of tropical American Tipulidm or crale-flies. rn thispaper the tribes Eriopterini and Limnophiiini are included.
Asecond part wili include the tribes Lirnnobini, Antochini, and Hexat.9*Ti, completing the Limnobinre, and u iiri"a wil ireat oftheTipulinre.
Inwitir the_ this pa,perthe termNeotropical is used as s)rn6rry,rrrouspu{), of Sclater (rbss) and rhe Derrd"ogea of Sclarer
ligoeTulin(1874). rt includes south America and theadjac"entFalkrand,
9oy-th Georgia, Juan Fernandez, and Galapagoesrslarids; the west
rndies, orAntilles; central America, Mexicofunt the extreme southern
portions of Florida and Texas.
Besides describing all new forms and redescribing such speciesas
are inadequately handled in previous descriptioo", ihuo" thoughtitmlght be of some value to future studenti to incrude keys tothegenerB,and speciesglthg regional forrns. rt should be un"derstood,
however, that the difficurties in the way of such an attempi a"e su"has to almost discourage one from undeitaking it. one must remember. that u ye.y considerable number of the Jpecieshave never beenrediscovered since their originai descriptioo; L*oy of tlr.eseclescripThose oflols are brief, vague, and altogether unsatisflcbry.
Fabricius would be as bad as those of rv'alker if it weie not forthework of wiedemann, who had accessto the x'abrician types. philippi, who described a large number of chilean
alrnosr
unacquainted with the_work of European writers "pe"i"r,"io"son the subject, anci.
as a result committed some grievous errors, such as erecting
thegenus Flettusa for the well-known Geranmny,i,a(and referrins it to thecuiicida),_the genus ld,,ioneurafor the wel-known u"aHelobi,a; the genus Polymoria, based on the"o.iooo]jtan
tdat theinsect possessedsix posterior ce1ls,etc. rn -i."orr".ption
addition'to insnfH,cientdescriptions, a serious difficulty exists in the fact that several s"o"" ,fP R o c E E D r N os
U. S, Na r r o n a L M u sEUM ,Vo L 4 4 _ No.
69077 " -Proc.N.M.

vol.44-13-81

1966.

4E2

PROCEEDINGS O"F'THE NA'L'IONAL AUSEUII.

specieshave been placed in wrong gonera, and there many of themreinain at the present rvriting. Until the t3'pe is studied, or thespeciesrediscovered, the generia position of many species must beconsidered in doubt. I irave studied this subjeci rvith considerable
thoroughnessanC as a result have assignedeach of thesefauity species
to its protrabie 'r,ruegeneric position, and it is in this genus that thespccieswill be sonsidered. n'uture research rril} undoubtedly provethat many of the specieswere wrongly assigned,and the purpose ofthis introduction is to let the reader know of the diffisuhi.* in theway.
Many of the keys are based entirely or in part, upon the originaldescriptions, a,ndfor that reason it has been necessary to use superficial charactersfor the main subdivisions,such as "wings spottod,""'wings not spotted," etc. This is of courseunsatisfactory, but convenient and, under the circumstances, the only possible courso'
As an example of the manner in which species are referred to tire
wrong genera, the case of the genus Lttmnobi,ais cited. This genus,erectedby Meigen in 1803,has served as a storehouse,or junk heap,
for specieswhich are in reality referable to a,lmosteYery genus of theLimnobinre. The numerous species of Fabricius and Wiedemannrvere described before the old genus I'umnobi,awas split up. Macquart included everythi"g it Li'mnobta that possessed but twobranches to the radial sector. Philippi and Gay described a large
number of speciesof what seem to ba Furcon'yi'a, as L'imnob'i'a. The
notorious work of n'rancis'Walker needsno comment here, most of
his descriptions being absolutely unrecognizable and the types ofmany no longer in existence, many o{ the names aro herein considered as unrecognizable speciesand dropped from consitieration.
After this discussion of the dificulties encountered becauseof thework of pioneer students like Fabricius and TVeidemann,or the miserably poor rvork of T[alker, it is a pieasure to speak of the reallynoonumental labors of Osten Sacken, who, having seen the types ofrnany of the early writers, definitely and finally gave them a true
generic position. Of the scoreso{ speciesof New IVorld crane-f.ies
described by Osten Sacken and his fellow workers, Loew and Schiner,
not or:.ocan be cailed "ulrecognizable" from their descriptions.
Osten Sacken did not describe an extraordinary number of nc.ff.species,but whatever wolk he ciid rvas done thoroughly and accurately. The "X'ather of American Dipterology" now rests from hislabors, having won the honor, respect, and the highest esteem ofevery student of his subject.
In siudying the Neotlopical Tipuiidm the student is strucli by tireabundance of certain gener& and tribes, and tho total absence ofothers. Of the hundreds of specimensexamined by the writer no', asingle species of the Cylindrctomirla or Perlicini was encountereC.
tr-,,imnobini aro abundant (Geronom,yin',Furcomyia, and Bhi'pi'dtt'c);Ilt_ : _ \A- :\a _ vu sEUM

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