The Micropezidae are a moderate-sized family of

acalyptrate muscoid The Acalyptratae or Acalyptrata are a subsection of the Schizophora, which are a section of the order Diptera, the "true flies". In various contexts the Acalyptratae also are referred to informally as the acalyptrate muscoids, or acalyptrates, a ...

flies in the insect order

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 ...

, comprising about 500 species in about 50 genera and five subfamilies worldwide, (except

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is a subantarctic island in the south-western Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. It has been governed as a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1880. It became a Protected areas of Tasmania, Tasmania ...

).McAlpine, D.K. (1998). Review of the Australian stilt flies (Diptera: Micropezidae) with a phylogenetic analysis of the family. ''Invertebrate Taxonomy'' 12:55–134. (with key to Australian species) They are most diverse in tropical and subtropical habitats, especially in the

Neotropical Region The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...

. Insects in this family are commonly called stilt-legged flies, after their characteristically long legs. The fore legs are markedly smaller than the other pairs. Mostly, they are long-bodied, often black flies, usually with infuscated (darkened) wings. Wings are reduced in the genera ''

Calycopteryx ''Calycopteryx'' is a genus of stilt-legged fly with only a single recognized species, the ''Calycopteryx mosleyi'' (sometimes misspelled ''moseleyi'') native to the Kerguelen Islands and Heard Island of the south Indian Ocean, first described b ...

'' and entirely absent in the ant-like ''

Badisis ambulans ''Badisis'' is a stilt-legged fly genus with only one known species, ''Badisis ambulans''. This is a wingless, haltere-less fly with an ant-like appearance. It is only found in the Southwest Australian bioregion of Western Australia. Dependent ...

''.

Description

For terms see

Morphology of Diptera Dipteran morphology differs in some significant ways from the broader insect morphology, morphology of insects. The Diptera is a very large and diverse Order (biology), order of mostly small to medium-sized insects. They have prominent compound ey ...

Very slender, small to large (3–16 mm) flies, they have long, thin legs and narrow wings. The head is small and elongated or rounded. The antennae are small and the arista is bare or pubescent. Ocelli are present, but ocellar bristles are absent. Vibrissae are absent and the postvertical bristles are divergent or absent. Up to three pairs of frontal bristles curve forward or backward. Interfrontal bristles are absent. The wings are clear or have a smoky pattern. The costa is without interruptions. The subcosta is complete, its ending in the costa close to vein R1. The posterior basal wing cell and discoidal wing cell are sometimes fused. Crossvein BM-Cu present or (Micropezinae) absent. The abdomen is long and narrow. The tibiae lack a dorsal preapical bristle.

Biology

Some species, much the same as in the strongylophthalmyiid genus, '' Strongylophthalmyia'', mimic ants; others mimic

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

s and are especially similar in appearance to some ichneumonid wasps. Species of the genus ''

Anaeropsis ''Anaeropsis'' is a genus of stilt-legged fly. It is found in New Guinea. Species *'' Anaeropsis guttipennis'' (Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) *Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982) ...

'' have stalked eyes. Little is known of the larval habits, but they are probably

phytophagous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet (nutrition), diet. These more broadly also encompass an ...

saprophagous Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ...

in decayed vegetation, old manure, or fungi. Larvae of certain ''Mimegralla'' species have been found to live in the roots of

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

and other plants, under the bark of dead trees, or in other decaying material. Species of ''Micropeza'' have phytophagous larvae feeding in the root nodules of leguminous plants in open habitats. Species of ''Rainieria'' develop in rotting wood and are found in old forests. Adults are either

predatory Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

on small insects (for example ''

Calobata ''Calobata'' is a genus of flies belonging to the family Micropezidae The Micropezidae are a moderate-sized family of acalyptrate muscoid flies in the insect order Diptera, comprising about 500 species in about 50 genera and five subfamilies ...

'' in Britain) or are attracted to

excrement Feces (also known as faeces American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, or fæces; : faex) are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the ...

or decaying fruit. Adults are found on low herbage, flowers, leaves, rotting fruit, and excrement. Many species (for example those of genus ''

Mimegralla ''Mimegralla'' is a genus of stilt-legged fly, stilt-legged flies in the family Micropezidae. There are more than 80 described species in ''Mimegralla'', found in Indomalaya, Oceania, Africa, Pacific Islands, and Central and South America. Spec ...

'') are known for their habit of standing motionless while waving their prominently marked front legs in front of their heads, a behavior which contributes to their mimicry of wasps. At least one species of ''

Metopochetus ''Metopochetus'' is a genus of stilt-legged flies. ''Crus'' is a subgenus. Species within ''Metopochetus'' are: * '' Metopochetus aequalis'' * '' Metopochetus aitkeni'' * '' Metopochetus aper'' * '' Metopochetus bickeli'' * '' Metopochetus clarus ...

'' (''M. curvus'') was observed to wave its hind legs instead, though these are not conspicuously colored.

Identification

Czerny Czerny is a surname meaning "black" in some Slavic languages. It is one of many variant forms, including Czarny, Černý, Czernik, Cherney, and Čierny, among others. People Notable people with this surname include: * Adalbert Czerny (1863–194 ...

. 1930. Tylidae. In: Lindner, E. (Ed.). ''Die Fliegen der Paläarktischen Region'' 5, 42a, 13–16. Keys to Palaearctic species but now needs revision (in German). * Séguy, E. (1934) Diptères: Brachycères. II. Muscidae acalypterae, Scatophagidae. Paris: Éditions Faune de France 28
virtuelle numérique
*Shtakel'berg, A.A. Family Micropezidae (Tylidae in part) in Bei-Bienko, G. Ya, 1988 ''Keys to the insects of the European Part of the USSR'' Volume 5 (Diptera) Part 2 English edition. Keys to Palaearctic species but now needs revision.

Conservation

Calycopteryx mosleyi ''Calycopteryx'' is a genus of stilt-legged fly with only a single recognized species, the ''Calycopteryx mosleyi'' (sometimes misspelled ''moseleyi'') native to the Kerguelen Islands and Heard Island of the south Indian Ocean, first described b ...

'', found on the

Kerguelen Islands The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the subantarctic, sub-Antarctic region. They are among the Extremes on Earth#Remoteness, most i ...

and

Heard Island The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall land ...

, is associated with the Kerguélen cabbage ('' Pringlea antiscorbutica'',

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older but equally valid) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important Family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous pla ...

). As this plant is being destroyed by introduced

rabbits Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated form ...

, the fly is considered vulnerable. The larvae of ''

'' live in the pitchers of the endangered Albany pitcher plant (''

Cephalotus follicularis ''Cephalotus'' ( or ; Greek: ''κεφαλή'' "head", and ''οὔς''/''ὠτός'' "ear", to describe the head of the anthers) is a genus which contains one species, ''Cephalotus follicularis'' the Albany pitcher plant, a small carnivorous pl ...

'', Cephalotaceae).

Fossil record

Several fossil species have been found in

Baltic amber Baltic amber or succinite is amber from the Baltic region, home of its largest known deposits. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that this forested region provided the re ...

, probably from the

Late Eocene The Priabonian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS's geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age or the upper stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Eocene epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans ...

(about 36 million years old). However, most were washed onto beaches after wearing from

Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...

strata, making their age uncertain. Two fossil genera are presently recognized, '' Cypselosomatites'' Hennig, 1965 and the advanced '' Electrobata'' Hennig, 1965 which may be more than one genus however.

Genera

This list is compiled from th
BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
and probably complete as of January 2007. *''

Bigot Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sexu ...

, 1866 *'' Badisis'' McAlpine, 1990 *''

Meigen Johann Wilhelm Meigen (3 May 1764 – 11 July 1845) was a German entomologist famous for his pioneering work on Diptera. Life Early years Meigen was born in Solingen, the fifth of eight children of Johann Clemens Meigen and Sibylla Margaretha ...

, 1803 *'' Calobatella'' Mik, 1898 *'' Calobatina'' Enderlein, 1922 *'' Calosphen'' Hennig, 1934 *''

'' Eaton, 1875 *'' Cardiacephala'' Macquart, 1843 *'' Cephalosphen'' Hennig, 1934 *'' Chaetotylus'' Hendel, 1932 *'' Cliobata'' Enderlein, 1923 *'' Cnodacophora''

, 1930 *''

Compsobata ''Compsobata'' is a genus of stilt-legged flies in the family Micropezidae. There are at least 20 described species in ''Compsobata''. Species These 20 species belong to the genus ''Compsobata'': * ''Compsobata borealis'' Ozerov, 1987 * ''Compso ...

, 1930 *'' Cothornobata''

, 1932 *'' Courtoisia'' Barraclough, 1993 *'' Crepidochetus'' Enderlein, 1922 *'' Crosa'' Steyskal, 1952 *'' Cryogonus''

Cresson ''Cresson'' is the French word for ''watercress''. It may refer to: ; Places * Battle of Cresson, a small battle fought on May 1, 1187, in what now is Israel, near Nazareth * Cresson, Kansas, a United States ghost town * Cresson, Pennsylvania, a ...

, 1926 *'' Ectemnodera'' Enderlein, 1922 *'' Electrobata'' Hennig, 1965 *'' Erythromyiella'' Hennig, 1935 *'' Eurybata'' Osten Sacken, 1882 *'' Globomyia'' Hennig, 1935 *'' Globopeza'' Marshall, 2005 *'' Glyphodera'' Enderlein, 1922 *'' Grallipeza''

Rondani Rondani is an Italian surname. Notable people having this name include: * Camillo Rondani, (1808–1879), an Italian entomologist noted for his studies of Diptera * Giovanni Maria Francesco Rondani Giovanni Maria Francesco Rondani (15 July 1490 � ...

, 1850 *'' Grammicomyia''

, 1859 *'' Hemichaeta'' Hennig, 1934 *'' Hoplocheiloma''

, 1926 *'' Mesoconius'' Enderlein, 1922 *'' Metasphen''

Frey Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, prosperity, fair weather, and good harvest. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especi ...

, 1927 *''

'' Enderlein, 1922 *''

Micropeza ''Micropeza'' is a genus of stilt-legged flies in the family Micropezidae. Description These stilt-legged flies have no crossvein separating discal cells and the second basal cell of the wing. Fronto‑orbital setaeare absent. Costa is bare fr ...

, 1803 *''

, 1850 *'' Mimomyrmecia''

, 1927 *'' Neograllomyia'' Hendel, 1933 *'' Neria'' Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 *'' Nestima'' Osten Sacken, 1881 *'' Notenthes'' Marshall, 2002 *'' Papeza'' McAlpine, 1975 *'' Paramimegralla'' Hennig, 1937 *'' Parasphen'' Enderlein, 1922 *'' Plocoscelus'' Enderlein, 1922 *'' Poecilotylus'' Hennig, 1934 *'' Pseudeurybata'' Hennig, 1934 *'' Ptilosphen'' Enderlein, 1922 *'' Rainieria''

, 1843 *'' Scipopus'' Enderlein, 1922 *'' Steyskalia'' Aczel, 1959 *'' Stiltissima'' Barraclough, 1991 *'' Taeniaptera'' Macquart, 1835 *'' Tenthes''

, 1930 *'' Trepidarioides''

, 1927 *'' Zelatractodes'' Enderlein, 1922