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| Insects of Britain and Ireland: the families of Diptera |
Dolichopidae
Adult insects. Very small to small; slender-bodied to robustly-built; stilt-legged, or not stilt-legged. Antennae 3 segmented (third segment variable in shape and adornment); ‘modified’; with a non-annulated terminal segment; aristate (usually), or not aristate (sometimes?); the arista apical, or dorsal (usually long and fine). Ptilinal suture absent or weakly defined. Ocelli present; 3. Mouthparts non-piercing (proboscis short, stout and retractable, the prey being crushed and milled between the labella). Mandibles present. Mandibles not in the form of long, slender, piercing stylets. The maxillary palps 1 segmented, or 2 segmented (flat, often much developed); porrect. Vibrissae absent. Wings without a discal cell (at least, with no cross-vein separating it from the 2nd basal cell); without a sub-apical cell (although veins 3 and 4 are sometimes depicted as converging somewhat); with a closed anal cell. The anal cell short. Sub-costa apparent, or absent or only dubiously identifiable; if identifiable, joining vein 1 well short of the costa. The leading edge veins not noticeably stronger than the rest. Wing vein 3 distally forked. Wing vein 6 present, or absent; when present, falling short of the wing margin. Wing vein 7 absent. Wings with the lower calypter much reduced or absent; patterned (with white or dark markings), or unpatterned. Feet with a triple pad beneath the tarsal claws, or without a triple pad. Predatory (on other arthropods and worms).
Larvae and pupae. The larvae aquatic, or terrestrial; saprophagous, or predatory (found in mud, rotting vegetation, etc.); hemicephalic. The pupae without a puparium.
Comments. Small, bristly, often metallic, bluish, greenish or bronze flies.
Classification. Suborder Brachycera; Division Asilomorpha; Superfamily Empidoidea.
British representation. 285 species in Britain. Genera 42; with very numerous species of Dolichopus, Cyrturella, and Rhaphium.
Illustrations. • Campsicnemus, Dolichopus, Hydrophorus, Orthoceratium, Orthochile, Raphium, Sciapus, Tachytrechus, Thinophilus (from Walker). 1, Sciapus wiedermannii (male); 1a-d, ditto, details of face (1a), antenna (1b), extremity of fore tarsus (1c), and extremity of abdomen from the side (1d). 1e, Sciapus platypterus, extremity of male abdomen. 2, Sybistroma obscurellum: extended extremity of male abdomen from above (2a), ditto from the side (2b), and the eight internal organs exposed by removing the two dorsal plates and the two long clavate lateral appendages depicted in the preceding figures (2c). 3, Dolichopus discifer, male; 3a, face of male; 3b, face of female; 3c, antenna; 3d, base of wing; 3f, extremity of fore tarsus of male. 3g, antenna of Dolichopus longicornis. 3k, extremity of wing of Dolichopus diadema. 3h and 3i, Tachytrechus consobrinus, details of antenna and fore tarsus of male. 4, Ortochile nigrocoerulea, head in side view. 5, Hydrophorus balticus, male , with details of face (5a), antenna (5b), abdomen in side view (5c), and extremity of tarsus from beneath (5d). 5e and 5f, Orthoceratium lacustre, details of antenna and extremity of wing. 6, Campsicnemus scambus, male, with details of face (6a), antenna (6b), base of middle tarsus (6c), and abdomen in side view (6e). 7, Thinophilus sp., showing face (7a), and antenna (7b). 8, Raphium crassipes, male. Walker's (1851) Plate VI in its entirety, with 2mm sclales inserted for the present application. • Anepsiomyia, Aphrosylus, Argyra, Chrysotus, Diaphorus, Dolichopus, Liancalus, Machaerium, Medeterus, Porphyrops, Raphium, Syntormon, Tachytrechus (from Walker). 1, Tachytrechus notatus, male. 1a, Liancalus virens, details of labrum and lingua. 2a-c, Raphium: side view of head and antenna of male Raphium longicorne (2a); antennae of male (2b and female (2c) Raphium appendiculatum. 2d and 2e, Syntormon pallipes: antennae of male (2d) and female (2e). 3, Machaerium maritimae, with details of side view of mouth (3a, position of palps, removed, asterisked); side view of labrum and tongue (3b); upper parts of mouth, from above, with one palp (3c, labium not shown); oblique view of side of labrum (3d); tip of labrum (3e); tongue from above (3f) and from the side (3g); and antenna (3h). 4 and 4a, Argyra leucocephala, male, with detail of its face; 4b, Argyra leucocephala, face of female. 4c-4e, Argyra diaphana, male: antenna (4c), extremity of abdomen (4d), and mouth from the side (4e). 5, Anepsiomyia flaviventris, male: antenna (5a), and extremity of abdomen (5b). 6, Diaphorus nigricans, male: face (6a), and antenna (6b). 7, Chrysotus gramineus, male: face (7a), wing (7b), and antenna (7c). 8a-8c, Medeterus diadema female: with details of face (8a), head in side view (8b), and antenna (8c). 8d, Medeterus truncorum, abdomen of male. 9, Aphrosylus raptor, male, with details of head from the side (9a), antenna (9b), fore leg, showing spiny trochanter and coxa (9c), and extremity of abdomen (9d). Walker's Plate VII (1851) in its entirety, with 2mm scales inserted for the present application. • Scellus notatus (Spotted-winged Medeterus: B. Ent. 162). • Scellus notatus (dissections: B. Ent. 162). • Scellus notatus (B. Ent. 162, legend+text). • Scellus notatus (B. Ent. 162, text cont.). • Raphium elegantulum (Bute Porphyrops: B. Ent. 541). • Raphium elegantulum (detail: B. Ent. 541). • Raphium elegantulum (dissections: B. Ent. 541). • Raphium elegantulum: B. Ent. 541, legend+text. • Raphium elegantulum: B. Ent. 541, legend+text. • Rhaphium monotrichum (Long-horned Rhaphium: B. Ent. 568). • Rhaphium monotrichum: B. Ent. 568, legend+text. • Rhaphium monotrichum: B. Ent. 568, text cont.. • Sciapus platypterus: as Psilopus platypterus, Stephens 1846.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. Insects of Britain and Ireland: the families of Diptera. Version: 14th April 2022. delta-intkey.com’.
