Empidoidea

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Antliophora
Ordo: Diptera
Subordo: Brachycera
Infraordo: Asilomorpha
Superfamilia: Empidoidea
Familiae (5): Atelestidae - Brachystomatidae - Dolichopodidae - Empididae - Hybotidae - Ragadidae

Unplaced genera (1): Gondwanamyia – Homalocnemis
Name

Empidoidea
References

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
Sinclair, B.J. & Cumming, J.M. 2006. The morphology, higher-level phylogeny and classification of the Empidoidea (Diptera). Zootaxa 1180: 1–172. Abstract & excerpt. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1180.1.1. PDF A, PDF B. Reference page.
Sinclair, B.J., Cumming, J.M., Brooks, S.E., Plant, A.R. & Saigusa, T. 2016. Gondwanamyia, a new empidoid (Diptera) genus of uncertain placement. ZooKeys 621: 137-147. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.621.10115. Reference page.

Vernacular names
日本語: オドリバエ上科
中文: 舞虻总科

The Empidoidea are a large monophyletic superfamily of true flies, the sister taxon to the Muscomorpha (Cyclorrhapha). These two groups are sometimes united in the unranked taxon Eremoneura. There are some 10,000 known species within Empidoidea,[1] which are represented on all continents except Antarctica. They are known to have existed since the Jurassic period.[2]

Empidoidea has been subject to much debate regarding its phylogeny. Based on morphology alone, three major hypotheses had been proposed until 2007 and seemed to be consensus for some time—however, in 2018, Wahlberg & Johanson published the most current phylogeny supported by extensive genetic data, changing the relationship between quite a few families and tribes.[3]

Description

The majority of these insects are predatory, often with large compound eyes (sometimes covering almost the entire surface of the head), and tend to be associated with moist, temperate habitats. Many have a well-developed anal lobe in the wings, and/or a small but distinct anal cell.

Several species within Empidoidea are of particular interest to ethologists and ecologists, due to elaborate mating rituals and life histories involving freshwater.[3]
Empidoidea sp.
Systematics

The most familiar families in the group are the Empididae and Dolichopodidae, both of which occur worldwide and contain thousands of species. The smaller families were formerly included in the Empididae, but have since been accorded family status.[4] The monophyly of most of these groups have since been confirmed by subsequent studies.[3] The Brachystomatinae and Microphorinae are sometimes elevated to full family status, too, but this would apparently make the Empididae and Dolichopodidae paraphyletic and thus they are retained as subfamilies here. Atelestidae forming the sister group to the rest of Empidoidea is a unanimous result in all studies that have utilized molecular data.[3]

The families are:[1][3]

Atelestidae
Hybotidae – dance flies
Dolichopodidae – long-legged flies (including Microphoridae)
Empididae – dagger flies and balloon flies (including Brachystomatidae)
Homalocnemiidae
Oreogetonidae
Ragadidae

Based on the most recent phylogenetic studies,[3] the internal classification of Empidoidea is as follows:

Atelestidae	Atelestinae     Nemedininae
	Hybotidae   Bicellariinae               Hybotinae     Oedaleinae       Ocydromiinae       Trichininae     Tachydromiinae     Tachydromiini     Symballaphthalmini       Drapetini               Dolichopodidae     Ragadidae   Iteaphilinae     Ragadinae     Empididae   Clinocerinae     Brachystomatinae   Brachystomatini     Ceratomerini     Trichopezini     Empidinae     Chelipodini     Empidini         Hemerodromiini     Hilarini

 
Footnotes

Moulton & Wiegmann (2007)
Grimaldi & Engel (2005)
Wahlberg & Johanson (2018)

Sinclair & Cumming (2006)

References

Moulton, J.K. & Wiegmann, B.M. (2007): The phylogenetic relationships of flies in the superfamily Empidoidea (Insecta: Diptera). Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 43(3): 701–713. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.02.029 PMID 17468014 (HTML abstract)
Grimaldi, D. & Engel, M.S. (2005): Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Sinclair, B.J. & Cumming, J.M. (2006): The morphology, higher-level phylogeny and classification of the Empidoidea (Diptera). Zootaxa 1180: 1–172. PDF fulltext
Wahlberg, E. & Johanson, K.A. (2018): Molecular phylogenetics reveals novel relationships within Empidoidea (Diptera). Systematic Entomology 43(4): 619–636. doi:10.1111/syen.12297 Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.