Family TRICHOCERIDAE Rondani, 1841

Trichoceridae

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Family TRICHOCERIDAE Rondani, 1841

Compiler and date details

2011 - Kathleen Nugent and Christine Lambkin, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

1999 - E.-M.E. Bugledich, CSIRO Entomology, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Introduction

Adult Trichoceridae are known in the northern hemisphere as 'winter gnats' or 'winter crane flies', reflecting their conspicuous adult swarming activity on sunny days in the cooler months of the year. This winter activity peak is also observed amongst southern temperate species, although adults of Nothotrichocera species may be encountered year round. Adult trichocerids may rest in caves and similar shaded places throughout the year, with summer aestivation suggested as an explanation for their presence in the hotter months. The family comprises some 120 species in four genera, predominantly distributed in temperate regions of both hemispheres, or montane tropical areas. The genus Paracladura Brunetti has been documented to occur in Australia (Colless & McAlpine 1991; Krzeminska 1992); however, the included taxa are as yet undescribed.

Adult Trichoceridae resemble modest-sized Tipulidae, from which they may be distinguished by the presence of ocelli, and in all Australian species by the second anal vein being short and strongly curved towards the wing margin. Trichocerid larvae are cylindrical, eucephalic, amphipneustic, with pubescent cuticle and with four lobes surrounding the posterior spiracles. There are four larval instars prior to the 1–2 week long pupal phase. Larvae are saprophagous, feeding on decaying organic matter, fungi, dung and even carrion. Late larvae and pupae may be found in soil where some larvae exhibit aestivation and/or diapause.

The fossil record shows Trichoceridae to have been quite diversified in the Jurassic, with records as early as the Lower Jurassic of Britain and Germany. The Australian trichocerid fauna shows endemism in Tasmania, and faunal associations with New Zealand's oceanic islands and probably more distantly with the poorly studied South American fauna.