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Superfamily Empidoidea

Rhamphomyia? - Rhamphomyia Hybotid Dance Fly - Platypalpus woodpecker fly - Medetera - male Fly Fly - Rhaphium longlegged fly - Gymnopternus exilis - male Hilara Insect with Gray and Black Bands on Chokecherries
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon (Orthorrhapha)
Superfamily Empidoidea
Numbers
ca. 2,100 described spp. of 4 families in our area, >20,000 estimated spp. in 5 families worldwide(1)
Size
1-15 mm(1)
Identification
Empodia usually setiform or absent. Vein CuA2 often meets vein A1 far from the wing margin. True tibial spurs characteristic in other families of lower Brachycera absent although legs bristly in the Dolichopodidae and the tip of the tibia may be produced into a fixed "spur" in some families.
Range
worldwide and across NA
Remarks
A monophyletic lineage, sister to the Cyclorrhapha(1)(2)
Works Cited
1.Cumming J.M., Brooks S.E. (2006) Homepage for Empidoidea resources
2.The morphology, higher level phylogeny and classification of the Empidoidea (Diptera)
Sinclair, B.J. & Cumming, J.M. 2006. Zootaxa, Vol. 1180 (Magnolia Press, Auckland, New Zealand).