The Canthyloscelidae are a small

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

of midges closely related to the

Scatopsidae __NOTOC__ The minute black scavenger flies or "dung midges", are a family, Scatopsidae, of nematoceran flies. Despite being distributed throughout the world, they form a small family with only around 250 described species in 27 genera, although m ...

. Adults are small to medium-sized (2.5-9.0 mm)

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 m ...

, relatively stout, usually dark coloured

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 ...

with stout legs. They are associated with

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

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. ...

e are xylosaprophagous and live in the moist, rotting wood of stumps and fallen trees. Most are considered endangered due to the vulnerability of their

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

. There are 15 described species worldwide from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, North America,

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, Japan and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. The 3 species in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

are suspected to be introductions. There is one know fossil species from the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and 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 Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

Systematics

Originally considered to be two separate families, the Synneuridae and the Canthyloscelidae. Haenni placed the Synneuridae as the subfamily Synneurinae. A

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

reclassification by Amorim has reduced the Synneurinae into a synonymy of Canthyloscelinae. * Genus '' Canthyloscelis'' Edwards, 1922 **'' Canthyloscelis antennata'' Edwards, 1922 **'' Canthyloscelis apicata'' Edwards, 1934 **'' Canthyloscelis balaena'' Hutson, 1977 **'' Canthyloscelis brevicornis'' Nagatomi, 1983 **'' Canthyloscelis claripennis'' Edwards, 1922 **'' Canthyloscelis nigricoxa'' Edwards, 1922 **'' Canthyloscelis pectinata'' Edwards, 1930 **'' Canthyloscelis pectipennis'' Edwards, 1930 **'' Canthyloscelis valdiviana'' Tollet, 1959 * Genus '' Exiliscelis'' Hutson 1977 **'' Exiliscelis californiensis'' Hutson, 1977 * Genus '' Hyperoscelis'' Hardy & Nagatomi 1960 **'' Hyperoscelis eximia'' ( Boheman, 1858) introduced in Europe **'' Hyperoscelis veternosa'' Mamaev & Krivosheina, 1969 introduced in Europe * Genus '' Prohyperoscelis'' Kovalev 1985

Itat Formation The Itat Formation ( Russian: итатская свита) is a geologic formation in western Siberia. It was deposited in the Bajocian to Bathonian ages of the Middle Jurassic. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from ...

, Russia,

Bathonian In the geologic timescale the Bathonian is an age and stage of the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 168.3 Ma to around 166.1 Ma (million years ago). The Bathonian Age succeeds the Bajocian Age and precedes the Callovian Age. Str ...

**'' Prohyperoscelis jurassicus'' † Kovalev, 1985 * Genus '' Synneuron'' Lundström 1910 **'' Synneuron annulipes'' Lundström, 1910 introduced in Europe **'' Synneuron decipens'' Hutson, 1977 **'' Synneuron sylvestre'' Mamaev & Krivosheina, 1969 **''Synneuron eomontana''

Kishenehn Formation The Kishenehn Formation is a Paleogene stratigraphic unit in Montana. Fossil amiiforme and teleost fish have been found in outcrops of the formation's Coal Creek Member in Glacier National Park. Mosquitos have also been found in the Coal Creek Me ...

, USA,

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

**''Synneuron jelli'' Koonwarra Fossil Bed, Australia, Aptian *

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1938951 Nematocera families Psychodomorpha