The Lonchopteridae (spear-winged flies or pointed-wing flies) are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of small (2–5 mm), slender, yellow to brownish-black

Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advance ...

, occurring all over the world. Their common name refers to their pointed wings, which have a distinct venation. Many are parthenogenic; males are very rare, however, at least in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n species, and have a somewhat different venation than do the females.Smith, K.G.V. (1969): '' Handbook for the Identification of British Insects'' 10(2ai: Diptera Lonchopteridae): 1–9.Borror, D.J.; Triplehorn, C.A. & Johnson, N.A. (1989): ''An Introduction to the Study of Insects'' (6th edition). Saunders College Publishing. Spear-winged flies are common in moist, shady, grassy areas, where the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e are found within decaying vegetation. One species, '' Lonchoptera bifurcata'', is

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

in distribution, and may have been transported via shipments of

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

Description

The Lonchopteridae are minute, slender flies with long wings which are pointed at the apex. The head is rounded, with the outer vertical bristles, inner vertical bristles, ocellar bristles, interfrontal bristles, and bristles along the margin of the broad mouth very well developed. The mesonotum and scutellum and legs have well-developed bristles. The radial vein R has three branches (R1, R2+3, R4+5). The median vein M is furcate (M1, M2). The anal vein A merges with the cubital vein Cu (female) or terminates freely (male).

Systematics

They are usually placed in the superfamily of flat-footed flies and allies (

Platypezoidea 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 ptilin ...

). If the Platypezoidea are restricted to the flat-footed flies '' sensu stricto'', the spear-winged flies are united with the

Ironomyiidae Ironomyiidae is a small family of flies in the order Diptera. Historically, they had been included in the family Platypezidae, and includes three extant species within the single extant genus ''Ironomyia'' endemic to Australia and a number of ext ...

and the coffin and scuttle flies ( Phoridae) as Phoroidea. More rarely, they are treated as

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

superfamily Lonchopteroidea. Four living genera are in this family, encompassing some 50 described

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

all together:

Tree of Life Web Project The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is an Internet project providing information about the diversity and phylogeny of life on Earth. This collaborative peer reviewed project began in 1995, and is written by biologists from around the world. The s ...

(ToL) (2007)
Lonchopteridae
Version of 2007-NOV-29. Retrieved 2009-APR-07. * '' Homolonchoptera'' Yang, 1998 * '' Lonchoptera'' Meigen, 1803 * '' Neolonchoptera'' Vaillant, 1989 * '' Spilolonchoptera'' Yang, 1998 Two

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

genera of spear-winged flies have been described: * '' Lonchopterites'' Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999 * '' Lonchopteromorpha'' Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999

Species

West Palaearctic including Russia

Japan

World list

References

External links

* Lonchopteridae In Italian
Lonchopteridae page at the Bishop Museum, Honolulu

Family Lonchopteridae at EOL
Image Gallery
Photograph of ''Lonchoptera furcata'' Fallén
Should be ''L. bifurcata''.
Photograph of ''Lonchoptera lutea'' Panzer
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1410925 Brachycera families Taxa named by Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart