''Chionea'' is a genus of wingless limoniid

crane flies Crane fly is a common name referring to any member of the insect family Tipulidae. Cylindrotominae, Limoniinae, and Pediciinae have been ranked as subfamilies of Tipulidae by most authors, though occasionally elevated to family rank. In the ...

. It consists of two subgenera, the

holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical regi ...

''Chionea'' and

palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Si ...

''Sphaeconophilus''. About 40 species are currently recognized in the northern hemisphere, but there are probably several undescribed species. They are commonly called snow flies.

Description

Adults occur during winter, where they can be observed walking over snow. They produce

glycerol Glycerol (), also called glycerine in British English and glycerin in American English, is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is sweet-tasting and non-toxic. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids know ...

in their

hemolymph Hemolymph, or haemolymph, is a fluid, analogous to the blood in vertebrates, that circulates in the interior of the arthropod (invertebrate) body, remaining in direct contact with the animal's tissues. It is composed of a fluid plasma in which ...

, preventing them from freezin

Up to 200 eggs have been found in female snow flies, which are laid singly. The larvae occur under decaying leaves in wooded regions (Marchand, 1917). At least the larvae of some species seem to feed on feces in

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are roden ...

burrows. Adults seem to actively seek out the coldest place they can find and drink water by pressing their

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refe