Hybotidae

"Dance fly" and "dance flies" redirect here. This term is also used for some Empididae.
Hybotidae
Bicellaria spuria (Ocydromiinae: Bicellariini)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Suborder: Brachycera
Superfamily: Empidoidea
Family: Hybotidae
Subfamilies

Hybotinae
Ocydromiinae
Tachydromiinae
Trichininae (disputed)

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.

Some, such as Tachydromia, are predators that run around on the bark of trees in complex pattern, hence the common name. Tachydromia species are only about three millimeters long.

Contents

Systematics

The Hybotidae clearly form a lineage quite distinct from the Empididae. Among the Empidoidea, they represent a lineage more basal than the main radiation of Empididae and Dolichopodidae, though they are not as ancient as the genera placed in the Atelestidae.[1][2]

By and large, the Hybotidae are monophyletic. Among its subfamilies, the Hybotinae and Tachydromiinae certainly represent clades. The status of the Ocydromiinae as a natural group is less clear, in particular whether the Trichininae should be included as tribe Trichinini or even in the Bicellariini[3] or Oedaleini[4], or whether they are more distinct and warrant recognition as a separate subfamily.[1]

Systematic list

The subfamilies with their tribes and selected genera are:[5][6][2]

Hybotinae Meigen, 1820

Ocydromiinae

Trichininae (often included in Ocydromiinae)

Tachydromiinae

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Moulton, J.K.; Wiegmann, B.M. (2007). "The phylogenetic relationships of flies in the superfamily Empidoidea (Insecta: Diptera).". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43 (3): 701-713. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.02.029. 
  2. ^ a b Sinclair, Bradley J.; Cumming, Jeffrey M. (2006). "The morphology, higher-level phylogeny and classification of the Empidoidea (Diptera)" (PDF). Zootaxa (Auckland, New Zealand: Magnolia Press) 1180: 172. ISBN 1-877407-80-1. http://www.uoguelph.ca/nadsfly/Doid/Doidclass/SinclairCumming2006.pdf. Retrieved 20 December 2011. 
  3. ^ E.g. Kahanpää
  4. ^ E.g. ITIS (1996)
  5. ^ Chvála (1983)
  6. ^ Chvála, Milan (1975) (PB). The Tachydromiinae (Diptera; Empididae) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica. 3. Klampenborg: Scandinavian Science Press Ltd. pp. 1–336. ISBN 87 87491 04 4. 

References

"Hybotidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=136392. Retrieved June 21, 2008. 

External links