| Canthyloscelidae | |
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Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Suborder: | Nematocera |
| Infraorder: | Bibionomorpha |
| Superfamily: | Scatopsoidea |
| Family: | Canthyloscelidae Enderlein, 1912 |
| Subfamilies | |
| Synonyms | |
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TheCanthyloscelidae are a smallfamily of midges closely related to theScatopsidae.
Adults are small to medium-sized (2.5-9.0 mm)flies, relatively stout, usually dark colouredNematocera with stout legs. They are associated withancient woodland.Larvae arexylosaprophagous and live in the moist, rotting wood of stumps and fallen trees.[1]
Most are considered endangered due to the vulnerability of theirhabitat.
Fifteen described species live inNew Zealand,North America,South America,Japan andRussia, and one is known from theJurassic fossil record.
Originally considered to be two separate families, the Synneuridae and the Canthyloscelidae. Haenni[2] placed the Synneuridae as the subfamily Synneurinae. Aphylogenetic reclassification by Amorim[3] has reduced the Synneurinae into a synonymy of Canthyloscelinae.
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Authority control databases: National |
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