Tanypezidae is a small family of medium-sized true flies (Diptera) found in the Nearctic Palaearctic and Neotropic zoogeographic regions. Some species have luminous silver or gold coloration.
Taxonomy [edit]
There are about 21 species of Tanypezids in six genera. The genera can be seen in the box to the right. Polphopeza, Tripolphopeza, and Tritanypeza were all described by Enderlein as subgenera of Neotanypeza, but some authorities treat them as distinct genera. Two somewhat common species are Neotanypeza elegans (Wiedemann, 1830) and Tanypeza longimana Fallén, 1820
Biology [edit]
Very little is known about the biology of the family. Tanypezids can be found in damp forests.
Family Description [edit]
These flies are 5 to 7 mm long, slender and long-legged and sometimes with patches of metallic tomentum on the body. See[1]
External links [edit]
