Platypezoidea
Platypezoidea | |
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Pseudacteon sp. (Phoridae) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Diptera |
Section: | Aschiza |
Superfamily: | Platypezoidea |
Families | |
5, see text | |
Synonyms | |
Phoroidea |
The Platypezoidea are a superfamily of true flies of the section Aschiza. Their closest living relatives are the Syrphoidea, which, for example, contain the hoverflies. Like these, the adults do not burst open their pupal cases with a ptilinum when hatching, thus the Aschiza do not have the inverted-U-shaped suture above the antennae. They are, however, muscomorphs, thus have a particular type of pupal case resembling a rounded barrel and called puparium.
Families
[edit]Five families are placed in the Platypezoidea, listed below in taxonomic sequence:
- Phoridae - coffin and scuttle flies (includes Sciadoceridae)
- Opetiidae - flat-footed flies
- Ironomyiidae - ironic flies[1]
- Lonchopteridae - spear-winged flies, pointed-wing flies
- Platypezidae - flat-footed flies
The Ironomyiidae, Lonchopteridae, and Phoridae are sometimes separated as Phoroidea. The reduced Platypezoidea thus created unites the two families of flat-footed flies.
References
[edit]- ^ McAlpine, D.K. (2008). "New extant species of ironic flies (Diptera: Ironomyiidae) with notes on ironomyiid morphology and relationships". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales (Print). 129. New South Wales: The Linnean Society of New South Wales: 17–38.