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 In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

and contains all flies but species from suborder

Brachycera The Brachycera are a suborder of the order Diptera. It is a major suborder consisting of around 120 families. Their most distinguishing characteristic is reduced antenna segmentation. Description A summary of the main physical characteristics i ...

(the name means "short-horns"), which includes more commonly known species as

housefly The housefly (''Musca domestica'') is a fly of the suborder Cyclorrhapha. It is believed to have evolved in the Cenozoic Era, possibly in the Middle East, and has spread all over the world as a commensal of humans. It is the most common fl ...

or the

common fruit fly ''Drosophila melanogaster'' is a species of fly (the taxonomic order Diptera) in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the "vinegar fly" or "pomace fly". Starting with ...

. Families in Nematocera include mosquitoes,

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 ...

, gnats,

black flies A black fly or blackfly (sometimes called a buffalo gnat, turkey gnat, or white socks) is any member of the family Simuliidae of the Culicomorpha infraorder. It is related to the Ceratopogonidae, Chironomidae, and Thaumaleidae. Over 2,200 speci ...

, and a multiple groups of families described as

midge A midge is any small fly, including species in several families of non-mosquito Nematoceran Diptera. Midges are found (seasonally or otherwise) on practically every land area outside permanently arid deserts and the frigid zones. Some mid ...

s. The Nematocera typically have fairly long, fine, finely-jointed antennae. In many species, such as most mosquitoes, the female antennae are more or less threadlike, but the males have spectacularly plumose antennae. The larvae of most families of Nematocera are aquatic, either free-swimming, rock-dwelling, plant-dwelling, or luticolous. Some families however, are not aquatic; for instance the Tipulidae tend to be soil-dwelling and the Mycetophilidae feed on fungi such as mushrooms. Unlike most of the Brachycera, the larvae of Nematocera have distinct heads with mouthparts that may be modified for filter feeding or chewing, depending on their lifestyles. The pupae are orthorrhaphous which means that adults emerge from the pupa through a straight, longitudinal seam in the dorsal surface of the pupal cuticle. The bodies and legs of most adult Nematocera are elongated, and many species have relatively long abdomens. Males of many species form mating swarms like faint pillars of smoke, competing for females that visit the cloud of males to find a mate.

Families

These families belong to the suborder Nematocera: * Anisopodidae Knab, 1912 - wood gnats or window-gnats *

Axymyiidae The Nematoceran family Axymyiidae is the sole member of the infraorder Axymyiomorpha, though it is often included within the infraorder Bibionomorpha in older classifications. It is known from only nine species in four genera, plus eight fossil s ...

Shannon, 1921 *

Bibionidae Bibionidae (March flies) is a family of flies (Diptera) containing approximately 650–700 species worldwide. Adults are nectar feeders and emerge in numbers in spring. Because of the likelihood of adults flies being found ''in copula'', they h ...

Fleming, 1821 - march flies and love bugs *

Blephariceridae The Blephariceridae, commonly known as net-winged midges, are a nematoceran family (biology), family in the order Fly, Diptera. The adults resemble tipulidae, crane flies except with a projecting anal angle in the wings, and different head shape, ...

Loew, 1861 - net-winged midges * Bolitophilidae Winnertz, 1863 * Canthyloscelididae Enderlein, 1912 * Cecidomyiidae Newman, 1835 - gall midges or gall gnats * Ceratopogonidae Newman, 1834 - biting midges * Chaoboridae Newman, 1834 - phantom midges * Chironomidae Newman, 1834 - chironomids or nonbiting midges *

Corethrellidae Corethrellidae are a family of biting midges, small flying insects belonging to the order Diptera, females of which feed on the blood of frogs. The members of the family are sometimes known as frog-biting midges. The family currently consists of ...

Edwards, 1932 - frog-biting midges * Culicidae Meigen, 1818 - mosquitoes * Cylindrotomidae Schiner, 1863 - cylindrotomid crane flies * Deuterophlebiidae Edwards, 1922 - mountain midges *

Diadocidiidae The Diadocidiidae are a family of flies (Diptera), containing one extant genus with over 20 species and one extinct genus. Diadocidiidae are found worldwide, except in Africa and Antarctica. They are usually considered close to the Keroplatidae, B ...

Winnertz, 1863 * Ditomyiidae Keilin, 1919 * Dixidae Schiner, 1868 - meniscus midges * Hesperinidae Schiner, 1864 * Keroplatidae Rondani, 1856 - predatory fungus gnats * Limoniidae Rondani, 1856 - limoniid crane flies * Lygistorrhinidae Edwards, 1925 - long-beaked fungus gnats * Mycetophilidae Newman, 1834 - fungus gnats *

Nymphomyiidae The Nymphomyiidae are a family of tiny (2 mm) slender, delicate flies (Diptera). Larvae are found among aquatic mosses in small, rapid streams in northern regions of the world, including northeastern North America, Japan, the Himalayas, and ...

Tokunaga, 1932 * Pachyneuridae Schiner, 1864 * Pediciidae Osten Sacken, 1859 - hairy-eyed crane flies *

Perissommatidae The Perissommatidae are a family of flies (Diptera) that was proposed in 1962 by Donald Colless based on the species ''Perissomma fusca'' from Australia. The family now includes five extant species within the single genus ''Perissomma'', four from ...

Colless, 1962 * Psychodidae Newman, 1834 - moth flies or drain flies *

Ptychopteridae The Ptychopteridae, phantom crane flies, are a small family (three extant genera) of nematocerous Diptera. Superficially similar in appearance to other "tipuloid" families, they lack the ocelli of the Trichoceridae, the five-branched radial vein ...

Osten Sacken, 1862 - phantom crane flies * Rangomaramidae Jaschhof & Didham, 2002 * Scatopsidae Newman, 1834 - minute black scavenger flies or dung midges * Sciaridae Billberg, 1820 - dark-winged fungus gnats *

Simuliidae A black fly or blackfly (sometimes called a buffalo gnat, turkey gnat, or white socks) is any member of the family Simuliidae of the Culicomorpha infraorder. It is related to the Ceratopogonidae, Chironomidae, and Thaumaleidae. Over 2,200 speci ...

Newman, 1834 - black flies *

Tanyderidae Tanyderidae, sometimes called primitive crane flies, are long, thin, delicate flies with spotted wings, superficially similar in appearance to some Tipulidae, Trichoceridae, and Ptychopteridae. Most species are restricted in distribution. They ...

Osten Sacken, 1880 - primitive crane flies * Thaumaleidae Bezzi, 1913 - trickle midges * Tipulidae Latreille, 1802 - large crane flies *

Trichoceridae Trichoceridae, or winter crane flies, of the order Diptera are long, thin, delicate insects superficially similar in appearance to the Tipulidae, Tanyderidae, and Ptychopteridae. The presence of ocelli distinguishes the Trichoceridae from these ...

Rondani, 1841 - winter crane flies * Valeseguyidae Amorim & Grimaldi, 2006 * † Ansorgiidae Krzemiñski & Lukashevich, 1993 * †

Antefungivoridae Antefungivoridae is an extinct family of fungus gnats and gall midges 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 ...

Rohdendorf, 1938 * †

Archizelmiridae Archizelmiridae is an extinct family of flies, known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. It belongs to the Sciaroidea, and has suggested to have a close relationship with Sciaridae. Genera * '' Archimelzira'' Grimaldi et al. 2003 New J ...

Rohdendorf, 1962 * † Asiochaoboridae Hong & Wang, 1990 * † Boholdoyidae Kovalev, 1985 * †

Cascopleciidae ''Cascoplecia insolitis'', rarely known as the unicorn fly, is an extinct dipteran that lived in the Early Cretaceous. The type specimen was found in Burmese amber. George Poinar Jr., who described the fossil, placed the genus into a new family ...

Poinar Jr., 2010 * † Crosaphididae Kovalev, 1983 * † Elliidae Krzeminska, Blagoderov & Krezmiñski, 1993 * † Eoditomyiidae Ansorge, 1996 * † Eopolyneuridae Rohdendorf, 1962 * † Grauvogeliidae Krzemiñski, 1999 * † Hennigmatidae Shcherbakov, 1995 * † Heterorhyphidae Ansorge & Krzemiñski, 1995 * † Hyperpolyneuridae Rohdendorf, 1962 * † Luanpingitidae Zhang, 1986 * † Mesosciophilidae Rohdendorf, 1946 * † Nadipteridae Lukashevich, 1995 * † Palaeophoridae Rohdendorf, 1951 * † Paraxymyiidae Rohdendorf, 1946 * † Pleciofungivoridae Rohdendorf, 1946 * † Procramptonomyiidae Kovalev, 1983 * † Protendipedidae Rohdendorf, 1951 * † Protopleciidae Rohdendorf, 1946 * † Protorhyphidae Handlirsch, 1906 * † Protoscatopsidae Rohdendorf, 1946 * † Serendipidae Evenhuis, 1994 * † Siberhyphidae Kovalev, 1985 * †

Strashilidae Strashilidae is an extinct family of Jurassic flies from Siberia and China. They were originally believed to represent a distinct order called Nakridletia, but subsequent research determined that they were nematoceran flies related to the extant ...

Rasnitsyn, 1992 * † Tanyderophrynidae Rohdendorf, 1962 * †

Tethepomyiidae Tethepomyiidae is an extinct family of small brachyceran flies known from the Cretaceous period of Laurasia. It is part of the extinct superfamily Archisargoidea. The family is characterised by "very large eyes, reduced mouthparts, a highly reduc ...

Grimaldi & Arillo, 2009 * † Tillyardipteridae Lukashevich & Shcherbakov, 1999 * † Tipulodictyidae Rohdendorf, 1962 * † Tipulopleciidae Rohdendorf, 1962 * † Vladipteridae Shcherbakov, 1995

References

* Borror, D. J., DeLong, D. M., Triplehorn, C. A.(1976) Fourth edition. ''An introduction to the study of insects''. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. New York, Chicago. * Arnett, R. H. Jr. (2000) Second edition. ''American insects''. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Londres,New York, Washington, D. C.

External links

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{{Authority control Insect suborders