A pipette family includes pipettes of different types and each including a pipette housing, a drive apparatus, an operating element that protrudes from the pipette housing and is displaceable relative to the pipette housing, an elongated first sensing element and a control unit coupled to the elongated first sensing element. The elongated first sensing element is configured for sensing the top end of a tip plunger inserted into the axial bore of the pipette tip and pushed onto a spigot at a mounting opening. The control unit places the pipette into a state enabling pipetting upon sensing a plunger rod of a pipette tip of a subfamily of the pipette tip family that is matched to a pipette type of the pipette and places the pipette into a state that inhibits pipetting upon sensing a plunger rod of a pipette tip of a subfamily not matched to the pipette type.