Family Apioceridae

Vertex shallowly depressed between eye and ocellar tubercle, eyes large bare, usually dichoptic in both sexes, ocelli well developed, frons wider in female, antennae inserted close together near middle of eye, pedicel short and globular, bearing long fine setae or bristles or both, flagellum enlarged, rather ovoid, with 3-4 flagellomeres, often as long as or longer than basal 2 segments combined, densely punctate, with small apical 2 segmented arista or minute spine, face short, bare or sparsely setose, palpus well developed, at most with 2 segments, proboscis held horizontally, at least as long as head

Postpronotum small, with setae, notopleura with row of bristles, supra alar and post alar setose, sometimes with dorsocentral setae, scutellum short and broad, sometimes with marginal setae, mediotergite bare, anatergite sometimes finely setose, katatergite sometimes with lobe, anepisternum and katepisternum often finely setose, anepimeron usually bare, katepimeron bare

Tibia with spurs, pulvilli usually present, empodia setiform or absent

Wing membrane hyaline or tinged, C continuing around wing, Sc extending over half wing length, R2+3 ending at R1, also R4-M2 sometimes, curving to wing margin before wing apex, branches of M peculiarly curved forward, at least M1 ending freely in wing margin before apex, M3 sometimes absent, usually joining with CuA1 forming cell M3, CuA2 joined by A1 apically or meeting at margin of wing, arculus developed, cell d usually well developed, alula usually well developed, calypters moderately large

Yeates, D. K. and M. E. Irwin. (1996) Apioceridae (Insecta: Diptera): cladistic reappraisal and biogeography. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 116:247-301.