Pupae of the crane fly genus Leptotarsus (Diptera: Tipulidae) in the New World, with discussion of the monophyly of the genus

Abstract

The pupae of the Leptotarsus subgenera Limoniodes and Pehlkea are described, diagnosed, and illustrated for the first time from specimens collected in Ecuador. The pupa of Leptotarsus ( Longurio ) testaceus from eastern North America is redescribed, diagnosed, and illustrated. All three species were collected in aquatic to semiaquatic habitats.The pupal features common to these three species, and to described pupae from New Zealand and South African congeners, are listed and their distribution is discussed within the Tipulidae. Pupal characters indicate a basal position for these subgenera within the Tipulinae; however, none clearly supports the monophyly of Leptotarsus as currently classified. Gelhaus, Jon K and Young, Chen-Wen. 1995. "Pupae of the crane fly genus Leptotarsus (Diptera: Tipulidae) in the New World, with discussion of the monophyly of the genus." Annals of the Carnegie Museum 64(2), 135-145.

Leptotarsus (Tanypremna) in the Lesser Antilles: Description of a new species from Guadeloupe and biogeographical notes (Diptera: Tipulidae)

“…Crane flies in the genus Eeptotarsus Guerin-Meneville are largely tropical or warm temperate, with only a few species reaching their distributional limits in the Northern Hemisphere (Oosterbroek and Theowald, 1992;Alexander, 1965). About 300 described species of Leptotarsus exhibit a Gondwanian distribution (Gelhaus and Young, 1995), and are concentrated in two species^rich regions, one in the Neotropical Region (Alexander and Alexander, 1970), and the other in the Australian Region (Oosterbroek, 1989). Leptotarsus as currently classified is considered to be doubtfully monophyletic (Young and Gelhaus, 1992) based on great morphological diversity.…”