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Family Hybotidae - Hybotid Dance Flies

UI Fly 070909-1 - Hybos Hybotidae - Hybotid Dance Fly - male 908W01 - Syneches simplex unknown fly - Syneches Fly Euhybus? Diptera. Micropezidae? - Tachypeza tiny fly - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon (Orthorrhapha)
Superfamily Empidoidea
Family Hybotidae (Hybotid Dance Flies)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
used to be treated as a part of Empididae, incl. in recent important sources(1)(2)(3)
Explanation of Names
Hybotidae Macquart 1823
Numbers
~300 spp. in 25 genera of 3 subfamilies in our area(3), >2,000 spp. in 75 genera total(4)
Identification
"Empidinae normally have a thick beak pointing down. Hybotinae have a thinner beak, or a thick beak pointing forwards or diagonally. Empidinae frequently have vein R4+5 forked. Hybotidae never do. Empidinae have a discal cell with three veins on the distal side. Some Hybotidae do not, or have only two veins." -comment by John F. Carr
Also, generally, the foreleg not raptorial, vein CuA2 forming a distinct angle with basal part of vein A1 or anal cell absent, prosternum not large and fused with epimera as in Empididae, costa ending at wing tip, first antennal segment very small, without setae.
See Also
Microphorinae in the family Dolichopodidae have wing cells bm and br reduced, vein CuA2 recurved and confluent with underside of cell cup, radial sector of wing originating opposite humeral crossvein, the costa of the wing running throughout the whole wing, fore tibiae without a sense organ, and male with large terminalia turned ventrally and sometimes twisted to the right.
Internet References
diptera.info (photo gallery)
Works Cited
1.Manual of Nearctic Diptera Volume 1
Varies for each chapter; edited by J.F. McAlpine, B.V. Petersen, G.E. Shewell, H.J. Teskey, J.R. Vockeroth, D.M. Wood. 1981. Research Branch Agriculture Canada.
2.Insects: Their Natural History And Diversity: With a Photographic Guide to Insects of Eastern North America
Stephen A. Marshall. 2006. Firefly Books Ltd.
3.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
4.Order Diptera Linnaeus, 1758. In: Zhang Z.-Q. (ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification...
Pape T., Blagoderov V., Mostovski M.B. 2011. Zootaxa 3148: 222–229.