Elliptera Schiner, 1863

Podenas, Sigitas & Byun, Hye-Woo, 2013, Antochini crane flies (Diptera: Limoniidae: Limoniinae) of Korea, Journal of Species Research 2 (2), pp. 167-184 : 177

Elliptera Schiner, 1863

Elliptera Schiner, 1863 ; Edwards, 1938; Lackschewitz and Pagast, 1942; Ishida, 1958; Savchenko and Krivolutskaya, 1976; Savchenko, 1983.

Type species - Elliptera omissa Egger, 1863

Small genus of medium-sized crane flies (wing length from 5.5 to 9 mm). Body usually brown, sometimes yellowish gray. Flagellum beaded. Prescutum without tubercular pits and pseudosutural foveas. Wing well develop- ed, translucent without dark markings or with smoky edging on cord, anal angle widely rounded. Wing venation: vein Sc long, Sc 1 nearly reaching branching point of Rs; Sc 2 far from Sc 1 tip, before base of Rs; radial sector long and straight, situated very close to R and nearly parallel to it; R 2 light, thus nearly invisible, situated some distance beyond fork of Rs, discal cell open due to the atrophy of basal part of M 3; basal section of CuA 1 close to the branching point of M. Male terminalia large; ninth tergite transverse; ninth sternite could be well developed or reduced; gonocoxite elongate with two terminal gonostyles; penis straight and short. Ovipositor elongate and sclerotised; cercus with apex strongly bent upwards.

There are 10 species belonging to the genus. All are distributed in Holarctic Region except one subspecies, which is known from Taiwan ( Oosterbroek, 2013). Two species are known to occur in Korean peninsula.

Larval body is distinctly depressed, greenish white, scarcely shiny, with delicate appressed grayish hairs which are thicker at both ends of the body, especially on last segment, where they become almost villous. Integument very transparent. Creeping welts are on dorsal and ventral part on 3-9 abdominal segments. Spiracular field with four lobes whose inner part are narrowly lined with black sclerite; lobes are provided with lashes of long gray hairs; dorsal lobes shorter and broader and bearing on their inner part two elongate spiracles. Head capsule is massive, slightly longer than broad, black. All sclerites compact and closely united; anterior projecting part of capsule with margins transparent, rusty brown; median part with two small knobs, laterally of which are two larger projections which are crowned with short points; capsule weakly keeled behind on dorsum, anterior to which are two swollen elevations. Labium strongly chitinized, triangular, split longitudinally. Mandible is clawlike in appearance, a little smaller than either half of labium, on inner face with a chitinized projection, which is serrated. Larvae live in silken tubes and occur on the wet walls of wooden chutes or runways and also on dripping chalk cliffs ( Alexander, 1920).

Pupa has pronotal breathing horns large, ear-shaped, bright yellowish white in color, in contrast to dirty yellowish brown skin of head, thorax, and appendages. Each horn consists of two parts: the dorsal side, appearing smooth and homogeneous; the ventral side with two longitudinal furrows converging toward apices, and with abundant elongate tubercles. Margin of breathing horn chitinized and very finely notched. On outer basal part of each ear a parchment-like lobe, which joins ear to side of prothorax; in addition to this, each ear at base is drawn out into an almost rectangular lobe, which is closely approximated to pronotum. Leg sheaths extending about to base of fifth abdominal segment. Abdomen distinctly depressed, greenish white in color; segments 3-7 dorsally and ventrally with creeping welts ( Alexander, 1920).

No fossil species of that genus are known so far.