Dolichopodidae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dolichopodidae

Poecilobothrus nobilitatus

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Suborder:	Brachycera
Infraorder:	Asilomorpha
Superfamily:	Empidoidea
Family:	Dolichopodidae

Genera

ca. 200 genera

Dolichopodidae is a large family of flies with more than 7000 described species in about 200 genera distributed worldwide. The genus Dolichopus is the most speciose with some 600 species. The family includes the subfamily Microphorinae, formerly placed in Empididae, and briefly considered a separate family[1]. These are generally fairly small, metallic flies with large, prominent eyes but otherwise they show considerable variation: most have long legs but some do not. The males often have enlarged genitalia which can be useful for species recognition. The adults are predatory on other small animals.

The larvae occupy a wide range of habitats, both terrestrial and aquatic, and can be predators or scavengers.

Dolichopodids are well represented in amber deposits throughout the world and the group has clearly been well distributed since the Cretaceous at the latest.

1 Behaviour
2 Gallery
3 Species Lists
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Behaviour

Dolichopodidae give visual (as opposed to chemical or other) signals during courtship. Many studies have been undertaken.Some may be read online-[2](Directly downloadable at [3] and see external links for two illustrated studies.