Platypezidae

Platypezidae is a family of true flies of the superfamily Platypezoidea. The more than 250 species are found worldwide primarily in woodland habitats. A common name is flat-footed flies, but this is also used for the closely related Opetiidae which were included in the Platypezidae in former times.

Some other genera formerly included here have been recognized as quite more distant and are nowadays placed in the asilomorph family Atelestidae.

Description

For terms see Morphology of Diptera.

Platypezidae are minute to medium sized (1.5–6 mm) slender or robust flies. The male and female usually differ in colour. Males in particular are often all black, one or both sexes may be in part or all grey or yellow. Markings may be orange, grey or silver. The abdomen may have two colours. Males have holoptic eyes. The antenna has three segments, the third is the largest and bears a long, apical arista. The wing is clear or tinged (the area along the wing margin, around veins Sc and R1 is darkened in some genera).The wing has large anal lobe and the anal vein reaches the wing margin. The cell cup ends in an acute angle and is often elongate.Vein M is forked in most genera. The crossvein DM-Cu is present (absent in Microsania where crossvein R-M is also lacking). The legs are short and robust.The first tarsal segment is usually swollen in the male, slender in the female and the distal tarsal segments are cylindrical (the first tarsal segment of the hind leg is long and cylindrical in the subfamily Callomyiina). In the subfamily Platypezinae the first tarsal segment of the hind leg is shortand laterally compressed, the distal are tarsal segments are also laterally compressed, in particular in the female.