| Athericidae Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Atherix marginata | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Superfamily: | Tabanoidea |
| Family: | Athericidae Stuckenberg, 1973 [1] |
Athericidae is a small family of flies known as water snipe flies or ibis flies. They used to be placed in the family Rhagionidae, but were removed by Stuckenberg in 1973. They are now known to be more closely related to Tabanidae. Species of Athericidae are found worldwide.
The adults mostly feed on nectar but some species feed on mammal blood. [2] Hematophagy has been demonstrated in adult Suragina and Suraginella and is suspected in other genera. Larvae do not feed in the first instar; after first molting, they become predatory. Larvae typically prey on invertebrates or are saprophagous.
The larvae have distinctive morphology. Their head capsule is well developed dorsally, and they have long abdominal prolegs with crocheted hooks. These structures help the larvae move without being washed away in their preferred larval habitat, fast-flowing montane streams and torrents. The larvae are predators of other aquatic invertebrates such as caddisflies. Adults have stout, tapered abdomens, slightly elongated legs, with aristate antennae. Males are sexually dimorphic with holoptic eyes.
Adult athericids usually rest on the upper surface of leaves, near the streams from which they emerge, or more inland if they are looking for a blood meal. Athericids commonly stroke or palpate the surface of leaves, an action they share with the Tabanidae. All species deposit their eggs at one time and then die.
Two subfamilies are described; the Dasyommatinae contain only Dasyomma and all other extant genera are in the Athericinae.
The Brachyceran infraorder Tabanomorpha is a small group that consists primarily of two large families, the Tabanidae and Rhagionidae, and an assortment of very small affiliated families, most of which have been included within the Rhagionidae.
The Brachyceran family Vermileonidae is a small family of uncertain affinities and unusual biology. It includes fewer than 80 described species, most of them rare and with restricted distribution, in 10 genera. Historically the vermileonids had been regarded as belonging to the family Rhagionidae, possibly in a subfamily Vermileoninae. Their biology and morphology are so markedly distinct from the main Rhagionidae sensu stricto however, that the placement as a separate family has been widely accepted.
Chrysopilus is common, worldwide genus of predatory snipe flies. There are approximately 300 species in the genus, including fossil members that are sometimes found in amber.
Rhagionidae or snipe flies are a small family of flies. They get their name from the similarity of their often prominent proboscis that looks like the beak of a snipe.
The Opetiidae or flat-footed flies are members of a family of flies. The family contains only five extant species in two genera, Opetia from the Palearctic region and Puyehuemyia from Chile in South America. Several fossil genera have been assigned to the family, but many of these are likely to belong elsewhere in the Platypezoidea. Lonchopterites from the Early Cretaceous Lebanese amber and Electrosania from the Late Cretaceous New Jersey amber seem likely to be closely related to modern opetiids.
Rhagio is a worldwide genus of predatory snipe flies. Several species in this genus are referred to as downlooker or down-looker flies because they sometimes perch on tree trunks in a head-down position. There are approximately 170 species. They can be distinguished from other rhagionids by the open anal cell on the wings and the lack of a kidney-shaped arista.
Superfamily Tabanoidea are insects in the order Diptera.
Arthroteles is a genus of snipe fly of the family Rhagionidae. Species of Arthroteles are moderately sized, from 5 to 7.5 mm. They are gray to dark gray in colour. Their antenna bears seven to eight tapering flagellomeres, the first much larger than all others.
Atherimorpha is a genus of snipe fly of the family Rhagionidae.
Hybomitra montana, the slender-horned horsefly, is a species of horse flies in the family Tabanidae.
Tabaninae is a subfamily of horse flies in the family Tabanidae. There are more than 3000 described species in Tabaninae.
Vermipardus is a genus of wormlion in the family Vermileonidae.
Leptynoma is a genus of wormlion in the family Vermileonidae.
Lampromyia is a genus of wormlion in the family Vermileonidae.
Atrichops is a genus of flies in the family Athericidae.
Pachybates is a genus of flies in the family Athericidae.
Suragina is a genus of flies in the family Athericidae.
 | This article related to members of the fly superfamily Tabanoidea is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |