British Insects: the Families of Diptera
| British Insects: the Families of Diptera | |
Excluding Ocydromiinae and Tachydromiinae.
Dancing-flies.
Adult insects. Very small to medium-sized; slender-bodied to robustly-built; stilt-legged, or not stilt-legged. Antennae 3 segmented (third segment not annulated); ‘modified’; the terminal segment not annulated. Antennae aristate, or not aristate; the bristle when present, apical (but sometimes downwardly directed). Ptilinal suture absent or weakly defined. Ocelli present; 3. Eyes not meeting (and usually nicked in the inner margin, near the bases of the antennae). Mouthparts functional (proboscis usually rigid, sometimes very long); adapted for piercing. The maxillary palps 1 segmented, or 2 segmented; porrect. Wings usually with a discal cell; without a sub-apical cell; with a closed anal cell, or without a closed anal cell. The anal cell when present, relatively long (but falling well short of the margin), or short. The costa not extending around the entire wing. Sub-costa apparent; reaching the costa independently of vein 1 (e.g., Clinocera, Phyllodromia), or terminating blind (e.g., Rhamphomyia). The leading edge veins not noticeably stronger than the rest. Wings without a ‘vena spuria’. Vein 3 distally forked. Vein 6 present, or absent; reaching the wing margin, or falling short of the wing margin. Vein 7 present; falling short of the wing margin. Wings with the lower calypter much reduced or absent; patterned, or unpatterned. Feet with a triple pad beneath the tarsal claws (occasionally), or without a triple pad. Predatory (on other, smaller arthropods, mainly Diptera).
Larvae and pupae. Larvae aquatic, or terrestrial; saprophagous, or predatory; hemicephalic. Pupa without a puparium.
Comments. Small to medium sized, mostly bristly flies, folding the wings over the abdomen at rest. Not metallic. Sometimes dancing in swarms, cf. chironomids.
Classification. Suborder Brachycera; Division Asilomorpha; Superfamily Empidoidea.
British representation: Genera 17; 208 species.
Illustrations: • Clinocera, Dolichocephala, Empis, Heleodromia, Hilaria, Ragas, Wiedemannia (from Walker). • Chelifera, Heleodromia, Hemerodromia, Phyllodromia, Rhamphomyia (from Walker). • Wiedemannia bistigma Curtis (Tachydromiinae: Stigma-spotted Heleodromia: B. Ent. 513). • Wiedemannia bistigma (detail: B. Ent. 513). • Wiedemannia bistigma (dissections: B. Ent. 513). • Wiedemannia bistigma (B. Ent. 513, legend+text). • Wiedemannia bistigma (B. Ent. 513, text cont.). • Empis borealis (Northern Empis: B. Ent. 018). • Empis borealis (detail: B. Ent. 018). • Empis borealis (dissections: B. Ent. 018). • Empis borealis (B. Ent. 018, legend+text). • Hilara curtisi (Fan-footed Empida: B. Ent. 130). • Hilara curtisi (B. Ent. 130, legend+text). • Hilara curtisi (B. Ent. 130, text cont.). • Rhamphomyia barbata (Feather-legged Dancing Fly: B. Ent. 517).
To view the illustrations with detailed captions, go to the interactive key. This also offers full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. British insects: the families of Diptera. Version: 9th April 2007. http://delta-intkey.com’.
