The Asiloidea comprise a very large superfamily insects in the order Diptera, the true flies. It has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring worldwide, with many species living in dry, sandy habitat types. It includes the family Bombyliidae, the bee flies, which are parasitoids, and the Asilidae, the robber flies, which are predators of other insects. Members of the other families are mainly flower visitors as adults and predators as larvae.
The Lonchopteridae are a family of small (2–5 mm), slender, yellow to brownish-black Diptera, occurring all over the world. Their common name refers to their pointed wings, which have a distinct venation. Many are parthenogenic; males are very rare, however, at least in North American species, and have a somewhat different venation than do the females.
Dolichopodidae, the long-legged flies, are a large, cosmopolitan family of true flies with more than 7,000 described species in about 230 genera. The genus Dolichopus is the most speciose, with some 600 species.
Empididae is a family of flies with over 3,000 described species occurring worldwide in all the Ecozones but the majority are found in the Holarctic. They are mainly predatory flies like most of their relatives in the Empidoidea, and exhibit a wide range of forms but are generally small to medium-sized, non-metallic and rather bristly.
Hybotidae, the typical dance flies, are a family of true flies. They belong to the superfamily Empidoidea and were formerly included in the Empididae as a subfamily.
Atelestidae is a family of true flies in the superfamily Empidoidea. The four genera were placed in a separate family in 1983; they were formerly either in Platypezidae or considered incertae cedis. While they are doubtless the most basal of the living Empidoidea, the monophyly of the family is not fully proven. The genus Nemedina seems to represent a most ancient lineage among the entire superfamily, while Meghyperus is probably not monophyletic in its present delimitation, and it is liable to be split up eventually, with some species being placed elsewhere.
Trichopezinae are a subfamily of empidoid flies. They are mainly predatory flies like most of their relatives, and generally small to medium-sized, long-legged and large-eyed.
Phacaspis is a genus of flies in the family Dolichopodidae. It is known from Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea. Flies in the genus are small, with metallic green coloring. They are marine, and are commonly found on mudflats in front of mangroves.
Apystomyia is a genus of flies in the family Apystomyiidae. The genus contains the single living Apystomyiidae species, Apystomyia elinguis, which is primarily found in California. Details of its life history are largely unknown. The extinct genus Hilarimorphites is known from the Cretaceous Burmese and New Jersey ambers. Formerly placed in the Asiloidea, molecular phylogenetic studies in 2010 placed the genus unambiguously as a sister of the Cyclorrhapha within the clade Eremoneura.
Brachystomatinae is a subfamily of flies belonging to the family Empididae.
Clinocerinae is a subfamily of flies belonging to the family Empididae.
Apystomyiidae is a small family of flies containing the living genus Apystomyia and the extinct genera Apystomima and Hilarimorphites. The single living Apystomyiidae species, Apystomyia elinguis, is native to California. Species of Hilarimorphites have been described from Mid to late Cretaceous Burmese and New Jersey ambers, while the single Apystomima species is from the Late Jurassic of Kazakhstan.
Parathalassiinae is a subfamily of flies in the family Dolichopodidae. It is part of an expanded concept of the family, Dolichopodidae sensu lato, and forms a monophyletic group with Dolichopodidae sensu stricto. It was once placed provisionally in the subfamily Microphorinae as the tribe Parathalassiini.
Plesiothalassius is a genus of flies in the family Dolichopodidae. It is found along sandy sea coasts in South Africa. It contains three described species. It is closely related to Amphithalassius.
Microphorinae is a subfamily of flies in the family Dolichopodidae. It is part of an expanded concept of the family, Dolichopodidae sensu lato, though it was previously considered a family of its own.
Ragadidae is a family of true flies in the superfamily Empidoidea. It was formerly considered a lower taxon, but was published as a new subfamily within Empididae in 2016. Since then, it has been classified as the sister group to Empididae, and has been elevated to family level based on the genetic differences which separate it from Empididae.
Pseudheleodromia is a genus of flies in the family Empididae.
Microphorella is a genus of flies in the family Dolichopodidae. It is currently considered both paraphyletic and polyphyletic, and several species groups may need to be recognised as subgenera or genera.
Eremoneura is a clade of flies within the Brachycera that includes the Empidoidea and the Cyclorrhapha and is a sister of the Asilomorpha. They are thought to have evolved around the Mesozoic. The group includes fossils described in the genus Chimeromyia from 125 million year old amber which show both empidoid and cyclorrhaphan characters. The monotypic family Apystomyiidae has also been placed within the Eremoneura as a sister of the Cyclorrhapha.
