Mythicomyiidae, commonly called mythicomyiids, are very tiny

flies 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 ...

(0.5–5.0 mm) found throughout most parts of the world, especially

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

and semi-desert regions, except the highest altitudes and latitudes. They are not as common in the tropics, but genera such as '' Cephalodromia'' and '' Platypygus'' are known from these regions. Many of these "microbombyliids" have a humpbacked thorax (as in the

Acroceridae The Acroceridae are a small family (biology), family of odd-looking flies. They have a hump-backed appearance with a strikingly small head, generally with a long proboscis for accessing nectar. They are rare and not widely known. The most frequen ...

) and lack the dense vestiture common in the

Bombyliidae The Bombyliidae are a family of flies, commonly known as bee flies. Adults generally feed on nectar and pollen, some being important pollinators. Larvae are mostly parasitoids of other insects. Overview The Bombyliidae are a large family of fl ...

. Mythicomyiids have until recently not had much attention in the literature. Their small size has caused them to be missed when collecting. Yellow pan trapping and fine-mesh netting in

Malaise As a medical term, malaise is a feeling of general discomfort, uneasiness or lack of wellbeing and often the first sign of an infection or other disease. The word has existed in French since at least the 12th century. The term is often used ...

and aerial sweep nets has resulted in a number of undescribed species from many parts of the world. A high diversity of both genera and species exists for this family in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, especially northern and southern portions. About 350 species are known (most in the genus '' Mythicomyia'' Coquillett). Hundreds more await description. Because of their extremely small size and curious body shapes, some genera have been at times placed in the

Empididae __NOTOC__ Empididae is a family of flies with over 3,000 described species occurring worldwide in all the biogeographic realms but the majority are found in the Holarctic. They are mainly predatory flies like most of their relatives in the Empid ...

. Originally, taxa were placed in the subfamily Mythicomyiinae in the Empididae. Later, they were transferred to the Bombyliidae, where mythicomyiids have long been treated. Zaitzev (1991) was the first to give characters warranting raising the group to family level. Subsequent workers have followed Zaitzev's lead and treat the group as a separate family. The family is separated from the Bombyliidae by the unbranched

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

vein R4+5 (branched in Bombyliidae), the extremely reduced or absent maxillary palpi (present in Bombyliidae), wings held together over the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the torso. ...

at rest (held at an angle in Bombyliidae), and the abdominal spiracles being placed in the

terga A ''tergum'' (Latin for "the back"; plural ''terga'', associated adjective tergal) is the dorsal ('upper') portion of an arthropod segment other than the head. The anterior edge is called the 'base' and posterior edge is called the 'apex' or 'ma ...

(placed in the pleural membrane in Bombyliidae). Augmenting the morphological characters, it is also a much older lineage than any known Bombyliidae, dating from as far back as the Middle

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

(''Palaeoplatypygus'' Kovalev; Callovian: 163–168 mya) with other genera known from the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

('' Procyrtosia'' Hennig and '' Proplatypygus'' Zaitzev).

Genera and Subgenera

*'' Acridophagus'' Evenhuis, 1983 *'' Ahessea'' Greathead & Evenhuis, 2001 *'' Amydrostylus'' Lamas, Falaschi & Evenhuis, 2015 *†'' Borissovia'' Evenhuis, 2003 *†''

Carmenelectra ''Carmenelectra'' is an extinct genus of fly belonging to the family Mythicomyiidae and containing a single species ''Carmenelectra shechisme''. Fossil records ''Carmenelectra'' is known from a Tertiary fossil discovered preserved in Baltic ...

'' Evenhuis, 2003 *'' Cephalodromia''

Becker Becker () is one of the German-language surnames, along with Bäcker and Baecker, that derive from the root, which refers to baking. The surname began as a name for a baker (and thus his family). In northern Germany it can also derive from the ...

, 1914 *'' Cyrtisiopsis'' Séguy, 1930 *'' Cyrtosia'' Perris, 1839 *'' Doliopteryx'' Hesse, 1938 *'' Elachymyia'' Hall & Evenhuis, 1987 *'' Empidideicus''

, 1907 **'' Anomaloptilus'' Hesse, 19385 **'' Cyrtoides'' Engel, 1933 *†'' Eoacridophagus'' Myskowiak, Garrouste & Nel, 2016 *†'' Eurodoliopteryx'' Nel, 2006 *'' Glabellula'' Bezzi, 1902 *'' Glella'' Greathead & Evenhuis, 2001 *'' Hesychastes'' Evenhuis, 2002 *'' Heterhybos'' Brèthes, 1919 *'' Leylaiya'' Efflatoun, 1945 *†'' Microburmyia'' Grimaldi & Cumming, 2011 *'' Mitinha'' Rafael & Limeira-de-Oliveira, 2014 *'' Mnemomyia'' Bowden, 1975 *'' Mythenteles'' Hall & Evenhuis, 1986 *'' Mythicomyia'' Coquillett, 1893 *''

Nexus NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and Border control#Expedited border controls, expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members ...

'' Hall & Evenhuis, 1987 *'' Onchopelma'' Hesse, 1938 *†'' Palaeoplatypygus'' Kovalev, 1985 *'' Paraconsors'' Hall & Evenhuis, 1987 *'' Pieza'' Evenhuis, 2002 *'' Platypygus'' Loew, 1844 *†'' Procyrtosia'' Zaitzev, 1986 *†'' Proplatypygus'' Hennig, 1969 *'' Pseudoglabellula'' Hesse, 1967 *'' Psiloderoides'' Hesse, 1967 *'' Reissa'' Evenhuis & Baéz, 2001 *†''

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

'' Evenhuis, 2013 *'' Tamanduamyia'' Rafael & Limeira-de-Oliveira, 2014 *'' Zzyzzarro'' Evenhuis, 2022

References

*Evenhuis, N.L., 2002. Catalog of the Mythicomyiidae of the world.''Bishop Museum Bulletin in Entomology'' 10: 1-85. established classification of the family. *Greathead, D.J. & N.L. Evenhuis, 1997. Family Bombyliidae. In: ''Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera'' Volume 2 (L. Papp & B. Darvas, eds.): 487-512. Science Herald, Budapest. provide a key to the Palaearctic genera. *Greathead, D.J. & N.L. Evenhuis, 2001. Annotated keys to the genera of African Bombylioidea (Diptera: Bombyliidae; Mythicomyiidae). ''African Invertebrates'' 42: 105-224. good illustrated keys to African genera. *Zaitzev, V.F. 1991. the phylogeny and system of dipterous insects of the superfamily Bombylioidea (Diptera). ''Entomologicheskoe Obozreniye'' 70: 716-736. nglish translation, 1992, in ''Entomological Review'' 71(4): 94-114.

External links

Diptera.info
Images

(original and updated catalog as pdf)
photo of Platypygus ridibundus
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1947652 Brachycera families Taxa named by Axel Leonard Melander