Belongs within: Empidoidea.
Contains: Empidinae, Brachystomatinae.
The Empididae, dance flies, are a group of long-legged flies that get their vernacular name in reference to the courtship displays performed by males of some species. Members are characterised by unrotated and symmetrical terminalia, and wings with vein Rs originating at a distance from the humeral crossvein h equal to or longer than length of h and the costa ends at, or just beyond, R4+5 or continuing along the wing margin.
Members of the subfamilies Clinocerinae and Brachystomatinae have the male cerci developed but simple in structure. Clinocerinae have narrow wings lacking an anal lobe and with CuA2 joining A1 before the crossvein bm-cu (Wahlberg & Johanson 2018).
<==Empididae [Empidae, Empides, Empidinea, Empidoinea]CS09 |--+--EmpidinaeWJ18 | `--BrachystomatinaeWJ18 `--ClinocerinaeWJ18 | i. s.: OreothaliaSK81 | ProclinopygaCS09 | Trichoclinocera hamiferaCS09 | AsymphylopteraCS09 | Fushunempites Hong 2002H02 | `--*F. furvis Hong 2002H02 | RoederiodesCS09 | |--R. recurvatusCS09 | |--R. wigginsiCS09 | `--R. wirthiCS09 | AfroclinoceraWJ18 | BergenstammiaWJ18 | ClinocerellaWJ18 | HypenellaWJ18 | PhaeobaliaWJ18 | ProagomyiaWJ18 | RhyacodromiaWJ18 |--+--DolichocephalaWJ18 | | |--D. argusCS09 | | |--D. guttataWJ18 | | `--D. ocellataWJ18 | `--+--Kowarzia tibiellaWJ18 | `--WiedemanniaWJ18 | |--W. (Wiedemannia) bistigmaWJ18 | `--W. (Pseudowiedemannia) lamellataWJ18 `--Clinocera Meigen 1803WJ18, B89 [incl. ArdopteraB89, Leptoscelis Halid. 1833B89] | i. s.: C. caeruleaWT11 | C. lineataCS09 | C. rubriventrisCS09 | C. stagnalisSK81 | C. sylvaticaR26 |--C. wesmaeliWJ18 `--+--C. fontinalisWJ18 `--+--C. maculataWJ18 `--C. nivalisWJ18 Empididae incertae sedis: Ecommocydromia difficilis Schlüter 1978P92 DryodromiaWJ18 DrapetiellaP92 EuhybosP92 EuthyneuriellaP92 MeghyperiellaP92 OustaletmyiaP92 PalaeoedaleaP92 PalaeoleptopezaP92 PalaeoparamesiaP92 ParathalassiellaP92 ThirzaP92 TimalphesP92 Enoplempis Bigot 1880B89 Pachymeria Stephen 1829 [incl. Pachymerina Macquart 1834]B89 Synamphotera Loew 1858B89 Eriogaster Macquart 1838B89 Homalocnemis Philippi 1865B89 Sciodromyia Haliday 1840B89
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[B89] Bigot, J.-M.-F. 1889. Diptères nouveaux ou peu connus. 34e partie. XLII. Empidi. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 6e série 9: 111–134.
[CS09] Cumming, J. M., & B. J. Sinclair. 2009. Empididae (dance flies, balloon flies, predaceous flies). In: Brown, B. V., A. Borkent, J. M. Cumming, D. M. Wood, N. E. Woodley & M. A. Zumbado (eds) Manual of Central American Diptera vol. 1 pp. 653–670. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.
[H02] Hong Y. 2002. Amber Insect of China. Beijing Scientific and Technological Publishing House.
[P92] Poinar, G. O., Jr. 1992. Life in Amber. Stanford University Press: Stanford.
[R26] Risso, A. 1826. Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l’Europe méridionale et particulièrement de celles des environs de Nice et des Alpes maritimes vol. 5. F.-G. Levrault: Paris.
[SK81] Steyskal, G. C., & L. V. Knutson. 1981. Empididae. In: McAlpine, J. F., B. V. Peterson, G. E. Shewell, H. J. Teskey, J. R. Vockeroth & D. S. Wood (eds) Manual of Nearctic Diptera vol. 1 pp. 607–624. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.
[WJ18] Wahlberg, E., & K. A. Johanson. 2018. Molecular phylogenetics reveals novel relationships within Empidoidea (Diptera). Systematic Entomology 43: 619–636.
[WT11] Wiegmann, B. M., M. D. Trautwein, I. S. Winkler, N. B. Barr, J.-W. Kim, C. Lambkin, M. A. Bertone, B. K. Cassel, K. M. Bayless, A. M. Heimberg, B. M. Wheeler, K. J. Peterson, T. Pape, B. J. Sinclair, J. H. Skevington, V. Blagoderov, J. Caravas, S. N. Kutty, U. Schmidt-Ott, G. E. Kampmeier, F. C. Thompson, D. A. Grimaldi, A. T. Beckenbach, G. W. Courtney, M. Friedrich, R. Meier & D. K. Yeates. 2011. Episodic radiations in the fly tree of life. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 108 (14): 5690–5695.