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Sciaroidea

Superfamily of flies From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sciaroidea
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Sciaroidea is a superfamily in the infraorder Bibionomorpha. There are about 16 families and more than 15,000 described species in Sciaroidea. Most of its constituent families are various gnats (e.g. fungus gnats).

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Description

As nematoceran flies, sciaroid adults generally have long segmented antennae, while their larvae have a well-developed head and mouthparts.[1]

Aside from this, sciaroids vary in appearance. For example, Sciaridae adults have each eye extended dorsally to form an "eye bridge", a feature not found in related families.[2] Cecidomyiidae adults have a distinctive reduced wing venation, while their larvae are atypical for nematoceran larvae in having a very small head capsule.[3]

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Ecology

Most fungus gnats (Sciaroidea excluding Cecidomyiidae) live in forests with their larvae occurring in fungi, dead wood and soil. There are some which live in wetlands such as fens.[4] Several genera of Sciaridae and Mycetophilidae may reach high abundances in damp buildings with wet organic matter.[5]

Some species of Sciaridae and Cecidomyiidae are among the rare Diptera that spend their entire lives in soil. These are wingless as adults.[6]

Sciaroid larvae typically feed on fungi but there are some which form plant galls (many Cecidomyiidae) or prey on other invertebrates (Keroplatidae).[7]

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Phylogeny

A 2016 molecular phylogenetic analysis confirmed that Sciaroidea is a monophyletic group and should include both Cecidomyiidae and Ditomyiidae.[8]

Families

These 15 families belong to the superfamily Sciaroidea:[9]

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References

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