The Tipulidae are shredders, as they break down living and dead plant matter for food.    From Wordnik.com.  [Insecta (Aquatic)] Reference

The lines echo the 1817 entomology written by William Kirby and William Spence: tribes of Tipulidae (usually, but improperly called gnats) assemble ... and form themselves into choirs, that alternately rise and fall.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Loves of Plants and Animals: Romantic Science and the Pleasures of Nature] Reference

Diptera of the families Empidae, Asilidae, and Tipulidae have been found as far back as the Lias.    From Wordnik.com.  [Darwinism (1889)] Reference

Tipulidae, 70.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Life-Story of Insects] Reference