font settings

Font Size: Large | Normal | Small
Font Face: Verdana | Geneva | Georgia

Asilomorpha

(Infraorder)

Overview

[ Back to top ]
An Infraorder in the Kingdom Animalia.

Taxonomy

[ Back to top ]

The Infraorder Asilomorpha is a member of the Suborder Brachycera. Here is the complete "parentage" of Asilomorpha:

The Infraorder Asilomorpha is further organized into finer groupings including:

Families

[ Back to top ]

Apioceridae

The Apioceridae, or flower-loving flies, are a small (approximately 150 species) family of flies, all in the single genus Apiocera. They occur mostly in dry sandy habitats in the deserts of North America, South America, and Australia. Other genera formerly placed in Apioceridae are now in Mydidae. [more]

Apsilocephalidae

Apsilocephalidae is a family of flies in the superfamily Asiloidea. The family was proposed in 1991. [more]

Apystomyiidae

Apystomyiidae are a family of flies. They are placed in the superfamily Asiloidea. There is only one genus which contains a single species. [more]

Asilidae

Insects in the Diptera family Asilidae are commonly called robber flies. The family Asilidae contains about 7,100 described species worldwide. [more]

Atelestidae

Atelestidae is a family of true flies in the superfamily Empidoidea. These four genera were placed in a separate family in 1983. They were formerly either in Platypezidae (which are not even particularly closely related) or considered incertae cedis. But while they are doubtless the most basal of the living Empidoidea, the monophyly of the family is not fully proven. The genus seems to represent a most ancient lineage among the entire superfamily, while Meghyperus is probably not monophyletic in its present delimitation, and it is liable to be split up eventually, with some species being placed elsewhere. [more]

Bombyliidae

Bombyliidae is a large family of flies with hundreds of genera, although their life cycles are not well known. Adults generally feed on nectar and pollen, thus are pollinators of flowers. They superficially resemble bees, thus are commonly called bee flies, and this may offer the adults some protection from predators. In parts of East Anglia locals refer to them as 'beewhals', thanks to their tusk-like appendages. [more]

Dolichopodidae

Dolichopodidae, the long-legged flies, make up a large family of true flies with more than 7,000 described species in about 230 genera distributed worldwide. The genus Dolichopus is the most speciose, with some 600 species. They are generally small flies with large, prominent eyes and a metallic cast to their appearance, though considerable variation is observed. Most have long legs, though some do not. The males often have enlarged genitalia which can be useful for species recognition. The adults are predatory on other small animals. [more]

Empididae

Empididae is a family of flies with over 3,000 described species occurring worldwide, but the majority are found in the Holarctic. They are mainly predatory flies like most of their relatives in the Empidoidea, and exhibit a wide range of forms but are generally small to medium sized, non-metallic and rather bristly. [more]

Hilarimorphidae

Hilarimorphidae or Hilarimorphid flies are a Family of Diptera. They are placed in the Super family Asiloidea, though there is some considerable doubt, but the consensus is that they are most closely related to the Bombyliidae. Most species are nearctic. [more]

Hybotidae

Hybotidae, the typical dance flies are a family of true flies. They belong to the superfamily Empidoidea and were formerly included in the Empididae as a subfamily. [more]

Microphoridae

[more]

Mydidae

The Mydidae (alternative spelling Mydaidae), or Mydas flies, are a small (fewer than 400 species), cosmopolitan family of rather large flies - including, in fact, the largest known fly, Gauromydas heros (a.k.a. Mydas heros). Many of the species, in addition to their large size, are mimics of stinging Hymenopterans, especially wasps. They are most diverse and abundant in arid regions of the world, but can be found in other habitats. They are infrequently encountered as the adult life span appears quite short, and little is known about their biology, though larvae of some species appear to be subterranean predators of ants. [more]

Mythicomyiidae

Mythicomyiids are very tiny flies (0.5?5.0 mm) found throughout most parts of the world, especially desert and semi-desert regions, except the highest altitudes and latitudes. They are not as common in the tropics, but genera such as and Platypygus are known from these regions. Many of these "microbombyliids" have humpbacked thoraces and lack the dense vestiture common in Bombyliidae. Mythicomyiids have until recently not had much attention in the literature. Their small size has caused them to be missed when collecting. Yellow pan trapping and fine-mesh netting in Malaise and aerial sweep nets has resulted in a tremendous amount of undescribed material from many parts of the world. A high amount of diversity of both genera and species exists for this family in Africa, especially northern and southern portions. Approximately 350 species are known (most in the genus Mythicomyia Coquillett). Hundreds more await description. [more]

Scenopinidae

Scenopinidae or window flies are a small (~400 described species) family of flies (Diptera), distributed worldwide. In buildings they are often taken at windows, hence the common name window flies. [more]

Therevidae

Therevidae are a family of Diptera Asiloidea commonly known as stiletto flies. The family contains about 1,600 described species worldwide, most diverse in arid and semi-arid regions with sandy soils. The larvae are predators of insect larvae in soil. [more]

At least 1,468 species and subspecies belong to the Family Therevidae.

More info about the Family Therevidae may be found here.

Sources

[ Back to top ]
Last Revised: August 24, 2012
2012/08/24 20:01:53