Acutipula
Taxonomy
This page represents the following TreeOfLife-200M taxonomic path.[1]
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Diptera
- Family: Tipulidae
- Genus: Acutipula
Visual Description
Members of the genus Acutipula are crane flies characterized by a slender, elongated body form typical of the family Tipulidae. Observations from the TreeOfLife-200M dataset indicate that these insects possess long, delicate legs and wings that often exhibit distinct patterns, such as whitish to yellow-greyish ground coloration with conspicuous brown markings.[1]
Morphology and Identification
The genus Acutipula includes the Tipula (Acutipula) maxima group, a systematic assemblage of 17 species and subspecies.[2] Identification is primarily based on the specific morphology of male hypopygial structures and female copulatory or ovipository organs.
General morphological characteristics include:
- Head: Features 13-segmented antennae with pubescent, basally enlarged flagellar segments. The nasus is dark brown and hirsute.
- Thorax: The prescutum ranges from yellow-brown to red-brown and displays four longitudinal stripes. The legs are long and slender, with a dense row of setae on the apical margin of the femora and a spine formula of 1-2-2.
- Abdomen: In males, tergite 9 is fused with sternite 9 but retains a distinct fold. The inner dististyle (Id) is composed of four processes that are highly characteristic for each species and subspecies.
Ecology and Distribution
Species within the maxima group are primarily distributed across the circum-Mediterranean region, with Tipula maxima exhibiting a broad distribution throughout Europe. They are typically found in shrubs and forests near small streams and rivers, particularly in mountainous areas, though they also inhabit environments such as dunes. Larvae are known to inhabit mud and very wet soils.
Gallery
References
- 1 2 Dataset view for Animalia / Arthropoda / Insecta / Diptera / Tipulidae / Acutipula constructed from imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M records under this taxonomic path. Hugging Face Datasets. https://huggingface.co/datasets/imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M.
- ↑ Dick Vermoolen. The Tipula (Acutipula) Maxima Group (Insecta, Diptera, Tipulidae). Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde. 1983. https://doi.org/10.1163/26660644-05301004.