These pages provide new and partly unpublished information on the cranefly fauna of Finland (Tipuloidea, Diptera). In addition to craneflies, certain other families will be included, for example Psychodidae, Dixidae, Thaumaleidae and Ptychopteridae.

Semiaquatic flies - a short introduction
In terms of species richness, habitat associations and functional feeding groups, semiaquatic flies (SF) (Diptera, Nematocera) are a diverse group of insects, of which most species are dwellers of wetlands and small water bodies. Many SF species are stenotopic, that is, their life cycles are bound to rather narrow habitat niches, such as springs, rich fens, headwater streams, fruiting bodies of fungi or decaying wood. Due to their ecological diversity and dependence on certain conditions or resources, SFs are considered to have great potential for biomonitoring, conservation and assessment of freshwater habitats or other wetlands. SFs are not a monophyletic taxonomic nematoceran group. Instead, they belong to 12 families and 424 SF species are currently known from Finland. Within SFs, craneflies sensu lato (Tipulidae 116 spp, Limoniidae 197, Pediciidae 19, Cylindrotomidae 7) are the most species rich group (330 spp), followed by moth flies (Psychodidae, 57 spp); other families are relatively species poor, each of them having 1-15 species (Ptychopteridae 7, Dixidae 15, Thaumaleidae 1, Synneuridae 1, Canthyloscelidae 2, Pachyneuridae 1, Pleciidae 1).