Osten Sacken, C.R. 1869. Monographs of the Diptera of North America. Part IV. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 8 (219): i-xii, 217.
Dicranoptycha is a genus of medium-sized flies that possess many traits of primitive Limoniinae, including R1+2 straight to wing margin, 16 articles of the antennae, and a anterior/posterior arrangement of the divided gonostylus. The genus is recognized and separated from other Limoniinae by the following characteristics: wings with R2 far distad of the discal cell (dm), a conspicuous pale fold in cell cup, and the rod-like interbase located at the mesal face of the gonocoxite (Young 1987). Due to the lack of division of the 9th sternite and tergite, this genus is only tentatively included in the Limoniinae and likely should be removed from the group.
Dicranoptycha is a large genus (84 species) represented in all biogeographic regions except the Australian/Oceanic Region. The Oriental Region has a limited fauna that is represented by only 7 species, of these 4 are limited to Taiwan and the other 3 from China and India.
Dicranoptycha larvae are known to inhabit open dry woodland habitat, occuring in the rich humous soil layer that is directly overlain by a leaf cover with permeated by mold (Young, 1978).