  Aims: We explore the wealth of high quality photometric data provided by data
release 2 of the Gaia mission for long period variables (LPVs) in the Large
Magellanic Cloud. Our goal is to identify stars of various types and masses
along the Asymptotic Giant Branch.
  Methods: For this endeavour, we developed a new multi-band approach combining
Wesenheit functions W_{RP,BP-RP} and W_{K_s,J-K_s} in the Gaia BP, RP and 2MASS
J, K_s spectral ranges, respectively, and use a new diagram
(W_{RP,BP-RP}-W_{K_s,J-K_s}) versus K_s to distinguish between different kinds
of stars in our sample of LPVs. We used stellar population synthesis models to
validate our approach.
  Results:We demonstrate the ability of the new diagram to discriminate between
O-rich and C-rich objects, and to identify low-mass, intermediate-mass and
massive O-rich red giants, as well as extreme C-rich stars. Stellar evolution
and population synthesis models guide the interpretation of the results,
highlighting the diagnostic power of the new tool to discriminate between
stellar initial masses, chemical properties and evolutionary stages.
