The Blephariceridae, commonly known as net-winged midges, are a

nematocera The Nematocera (the name means "thread-horns") are a suborder of elongated flies with thin, segmented antennae and mostly aquatic larvae. This group is paraphyletic and contains all flies but species from suborder Brachycera (the name means "sh ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

in the order

Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

. The adults resemble

crane flies Crane fly is a common name referring to any member of the insect family Tipulidae. Cylindrotominae, Limoniinae, and Pediciinae have been ranked as subfamilies of Tipulidae by most authors, though occasionally elevated to family rank. In the most ...

except with a projecting anal angle in the wings, and different head shape, absence of the V on the mesonotum, and more laterally outstretched, forward-facing legs. They are uncommon, but dozens of genera occur worldwide, and over 200 species. They are found near fast-flowing streams where the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e live. Blepharicerid larvae are filter feeders and have suckers on their abdominal sternites, used to adhere to rocks in the torrents in which they live. These suckers are sometimes called creeping welts. These are of unique evolutionary origin within the Diptera. One recent classification based largely on

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s treats this family as the sole member of its infraorder, but this has not gained wide acceptance.

Selected Genera and Species

*Subfamily Blepharicerinae **Tribe Blepharicerini ***''

Agathon Agathon (; grc, Ἀγάθων; ) was an Athenian tragic poet whose works have been lost. He is best known for his appearance in Plato's ''Symposium,'' which describes the banquet given to celebrate his obtaining a prize for his first tragedy a ...

'' Rodor, 1890 ****'' Agathon arizonica'' (Alexander, 1958) ****'' Agathon aylmeri'' (Garrett, 1923) ****''

Agathon comstocki ''Agathon comstocki'' is a species of net-winged midges in the family Blephariceridae. References

Blephariceridae Articles created by Qbugbot Insects described in 1903 {{Blephariceromorpha-stub ...

'' (Kellogg, 1903) ****'' Agathon dismalea'' (Hogue, 1970) ****'' Agathon doanei'' (Kellogg, 1900) ****'' Agathon elegantulus'' Roder, 1890 ****'' Agathon markii'' (Garrett, 1925) ****'' Agathon sequoiarum'' (Alexander, 1952) ***'' Bibiocephala'' ****'' Bibiocephala grandis'' Osten Sacken, 1874 ***'' Blepharicera'' Macquart, 1843 ****'' Blepharicera appalachiae'' Hogue and Georgian, 1986 ****'' Blepharicera capitata'' (Loew, 1863) ****'' Blepharicera cherokea'' Hogue, 1978 ****'' Blepharicera coweetae'' Hogue and Georgian, 1985 ****'' Blepharicera diminutiva'' Hogue, 1978 ****'' Blepharicera jordani'' (Kellogg, 1903) ****'' Blepharicera micheneri'' (Alexander, 1959) ****'' Blepharicera ostensackeni'' Kellogg, 1903 ****'' Blepharicera similans'' (Johannsen, 1929) ****'' Blepharicera tenuipes'' (Walker, 1848) ****'' Blepharicera williamsae'' (Alexander, 1953) ****'' Blepharicera zionensis'' (Alexander, 1953) ***'' Philorus'' ****'' Philorus californicus'' Hogue, 1966 ****'' Philorus jacinto'' Hogue, 1966 ****'' Philorus vanduzeei'' Alexander, 1963 ****'' Philorus yosemite'' (Osten Sacken, 1877) *Subfamily Edwardsininae **'' Edwardsina'' ***'' Edwardsina gigantea'' Zwick, 1977 ***'' Edwardsina tasmaniensis'' Tonnoir, 1924 **'' Paulianina''

Extinct genera

* †'' Blephadejura'' Lukashevich et al. 2006

Daohugou The Haifanggou Formation (), also known as the Jiulongshan Formation (), is a fossil-bearing rock deposit located near Daohugou () village of Ningcheng County, in Inner Mongolia, northeastern China. The formation consists of coarse conglomerates ...

, China,

Callovian In the geologic timescale, the Callovian is an age and stage in the Middle Jurassic, lasting between 166.1 ± 4.0 Ma (million years ago) and 163.5 ± 4.0 Ma. It is the last stage of the Middle Jurassic, following the Bathonian and preceding the ...

* †'' Brianina'' Zhang and Lukashevich 2007 Daohugou, China, Callovian * †'' Megathon'' Lukashevich and Shcherbakov 1997 Daohugou, China, Callovian, Ola Formation, Russia,

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous Epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campanian s ...

* †'' Philorites'' Cockerell 1908

Green River Formation The Green River Formation is an Eocene geologic formation that records the sedimentation in a group of intermountain lakes in three basins along the present-day Green River in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The sediments are deposited in very fine ...

, Colorado,

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

* †'' Sinotendipes'' Hong and Wang 1990

Laiyang Formation Laiyang city () is a county-level city within Yantai bordering Qingdao, located in the middle of the Shandong Peninsula, in Shandong province, China. The majority (70%) of its population are farmers and it is famous for producing the Laiyang pe ...

, China,

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), a ...

References

Loew H. 1862. Monographs of the Diptera of North America. Part 1. Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collection 6(1): 1-221, fig. 1-3+1-12, 2 pls.

External links

Tree of Life Blephariceromorpha

Iowa State University
Biology, Classification, Keys (introductory figure).
Video of a Blepharicerid larva
Nematocera families Taxa named by Hermann Loew {{Blephariceromorpha-stub