The

Brachycera The Brachycera are a suborder of the order Diptera. It is a major suborder consisting of around 120 families. Their most distinguishing characteristic is reduced antenna segmentation. Description A summary of the main physical characteristic ...

n infraorder Muscomorpha is a large and diverse group of flies, containing the bulk of the Brachycera and most of the known

flies Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwin ...

. It includes a number of the most familiar flies, such as the

housefly The housefly (''Musca domestica'') is a fly of the suborder Cyclorrhapha. It possibly originated in the Middle East, and Cosmopolitan distribution, spread around the world as a commensal of humans. Adults are gray to black, with four dark, lo ...

, the fruit fly, and the blow fly. The antennae are short, usually three-segmented, with a dorsal arista. Their bodies are often highly setose, and the pattern of

seta In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae, ...

e is often taxonomically important. 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 of muscomorphs (in the sense the name is used here; see below) have reduced head capsules, and the

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

e are formed inside the

exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the internal organs, in contrast to an internal endoskeleton (e.g. human skeleton, that ...

of the last

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

. Exit from this

puparium A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages the ...

is by a circular line of weakness, and this pupal type is called "cyclorrhaphous"; this feature gives this group of flies their traditional name,

Cyclorrhapha Cyclorrhapha is an Taxon#Ranks, unranked taxon within the infraorder (biology), infraorder Muscomorpha. They are called "Cyclorrhapha" ('circular-seamed flies') with reference to the circular aperture through which the adult escapes the puparium. ...

Classification

The name

is used, in various modern classifications, to represent either a subgroup within the infraorder Muscomorpha, or simply a rankless group within the Brachycera. In either case, the Empidoidea are the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

to the Cyclorrhapha. In the present classification, as the term Muscomorpha is used to refer to the sister taxon of the Empidoidea, the names "Muscomorpha" and "Cyclorrhapha" are effectively synonymous (though not entirely interchangeable: for nomenclatural purposes, it is always considered better if the endings of names of similar rank are consistent, and since all the other infraordinal names end in "-morpha", the use of "Cyclorrhapha" as an infraordinal name would be inconsistent). In the

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 ...

, the name "Muscomorpha" refers to the Asilomorpha plus the Cyclorrhapha. *Section

Aschiza The Aschiza are a section of the Brachycera. Two large families, the Syrphidae and the Phoridae, and a number of smaller taxa are in this group. They are similar to most of the familiar Muscomorpha with one notable exception; they do not posse ...

**Superfamily

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 ...

**Superfamily

Syrphoidea The Syrphoidea are a superfamily of flies Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use on ...

*Section

Schizophora The Schizophora are a section of true flies containing 78 families, which are collectively referred to as muscoids, although technically the term "muscoid" should be limited to flies in the superfamily Muscoidea; this is an example of informal, ...

**Subsection

Acalyptratae 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 ...

***Superfamily Conopoidea ***Superfamily

Tephritoidea The Tephritoidea are a superfamily of flies. It has over 7,800 species, the majority of them in family Tephritidae. The following families are included: * Ctenostylidae * Eurygnathomyiidae * Lonchaeidae - lance flies * Pallopteridae — flutt ...

***Superfamily Nerioidea ***Superfamily Diopsoidea ***Superfamily

Sciomyzoidea Sciomyzoidea is a Taxonomic rank, superfamily of Acalyptratae fly, flies. The family (biology), families placed here include at least the following: * Coelopidae – seaweed flies * Dryomyzidae * Helcomyzidae * Helosciomyzidae * Heterocheili ...

***Superfamily Sphaeroceroidea ***Superfamily Lauxanioidea ***Superfamily Opomyzoidea ***Superfamily Ephydroidea ***Superfamily Carnoidea **Subsection

Calyptratae Calyptratae is a subsection of Schizophora in the insect order Diptera, commonly referred to as the calyptrate muscoids (or simply calyptrates). It consists of those flies which possess a calypter that covers the halteres, among which are some ...

***Superfamily

Muscoidea Muscoidea is a superfamily of flies in the subsection Calyptratae. Muscoidea, with approximately 7000 described species, is nearly 5% of the known species level diversity of the Diptera, the true flies. Most muscoid flies are saprophagous, copr ...

***Superfamily

Oestroidea Oestroidea is a superfamily (zoology), superfamily of Calyptratae that includes the Calliphoridae, blow flies, bot flies, flesh flies, and their relatives. It occurs worldwide and has about 15,000 described species. Evolution and phylogeny The ...

***Superfamily

Hippoboscoidea Hippoboscoidea is a superfamily (zoology), superfamily of the Calyptratae. The flies in this superfamily are blood-feeding obligate parasites of their hosts. Four family (biology), families are often placed here: *Glossinidae - Tsetse fly, Tsets ...

External links

The Tree of Life Web Project: Brachycera
{{Taxonbar, from=Q240514 Muscomorpha genera Muscomorph flies of Europe Insect infraorders