Belongs within: Sciaroidea.
Contains: Macrocera, Platyura.
The Keroplatidae is a group of fungus gnats whose larvae live in webs or mucous tubes in secluded habitats. Larvae feed on fungal spores or small animals caught in the web. The glowworms Arachnocampa of Australia and New Zealand produce light to lure prey; some Keroplatinae are also luminous.
The Macrocerinae have wings with the branches of CuA slightly convergent for part of their length before diverging, and bear a few long strong erect hairs on the upper half of the anepisternum (Vockeroth 2009). Keroplatinae are divided between Keroplatini and Orfeliini, with Keroplatini having porrect, three-segmented palpi though often only one segment is visible (Vockeroth 2009).
Characters (from Vockeroth 2009): Body length 2.3–8.8 mm. Colour yellow to brown or black, often patterned. Usually three ocelli, middle ocellus small or rarely absent. Antenna with fourteen flagellomeres. Scutum uniformly setose or with bare longitudinal stripes; scutellum with posterior row of setae or with dorsal surface extensively setose. Scutellum sometimes with large membranous triangular basal area. Mediotergite bare. Pleural sclerites and prosternum variously haired or bare. Wing with Sc ending in C; R2+3 present, ending in R1 or C; base of M strong, weak or absent; Rs and M briefly fused at about one-third wing length. Foretibia with one apical spur, other tibiae with one or two spurs.
<==Keroplatidae [Ceroplatidae]
| i. s.: Micrepimera punctipennis Matile 1990JG19
|--Arachnocampa Edwards 1924TE27 [Arachnocampidae, ArachnocampinaeV09]
| |--*A. luminosa (Skuse 1891) [=Bolitophila luminosa]TE27
| |--A. flavaWT11
| `--A. tasmaniensisN70
|--Macrocerinae [Macroceratidae, Macroceridae]V09
| |--MacroceraV09
| |--Paramacrocera Tonnoir & Edwards 1927TE27
| | `--*P. brevicornis Edwards in Tonnoir & Edwards 1927TE27
| `--Eomacroceritis Hong 2002H02
| `--*E. melanopoda (Hong 1974) [=Macrocera melanopoda]H02
`--Keroplatinae [Ceroplatinae]V09
| i. s.: Planarivora insignisV81
| EuceroplatusV81
| |--E. gressittiO98
| `--E. incolumisV81
| Hesperodes johnsoniV81
| Robsonomyia reductaV81
| Macrorrhyncha coxalisV81
| Asindulum montanumV81
| Paleoplatyura johnsoniV81
| CerotelionV81
| |--C. bimaculatus Tonnoir in Tonnoir & Edwards 1927TE27
| |--C. dendyi (Marshall 1896) [=Ceroplatus dendyi]TE27
| |--C. hudsoni (Marshall 1896) [=Ceroplatus hudsoni]TE27
| |--C. johannseniV81
| |--C. leucoceras (Marshall 1896) [=Ceroplatus leucoceras]TE27
| |--C. niger Tonnoir in Tonnoir & Edwards 1927TE27
| |--C. tapleyi Edwards in Tonnoir & Edwards 1927TE27
| `--C. vitripennis Tonnoir in Tonnoir & Edwards 1927TE27
| PlatyuraV81
| Eoplatyura Hong 2002H02
| `--*E. noda (Hong 1981) [=Platyura noda]H02
| PalaeoplatyuraSS51
| Platyroptilon miersiSS51
| ApemonSS51
| FenderomyiaSS51
| Schlueterimyia cenomanica Matile 1981P92
|--KeroplatiniV09
| |--PlacoceratiasV09
| |--SetostylusV09
| |--CtenoceridionV09
| |--Heteropterna cressoniV09, V81
| |--NeoceroplatusV09
| `--Keroplatus Ross 1792 [=Ceroplatus Fabricius 1798]H02
| |--K. claususV09
| |--K. mangalorensis Edwards 1929G60
| |--K. mastersi Skuse 1888G60
| |--‘Ceroplatus’ sessiodesRD77
| `--K. tipuloidesL02
`--OrfeliiniV09
|--MicrapemonV09
|--LapyrutaV09
|--Proceroplatus hennigi Schmalfuss 1979V09, P92
|--Pseudoplatyura truncata Tonnoir in Tonnoir & Edwards 1927V09, TE27
|--IsoneuromyiaV09
|--NeoplatyuraV09
|--Pyrtaula fenestralisV09, O98
|--XenoplatyuraV09
|--PlautyraV09
|--LyprautaV09
|--ApyrtulaV09
|--OrfeliaV09
| |--O. fenestralisCM91
| |--O. genualisV81
| `--O. nemoralisTC04 [=Platyura nemoralisM83]
`--NeoditomyiaV09
|--N. spinosaL88
`--+--N. andinaL88
`--N. troglophilaL88
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
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[G60] Gatenby, J. B. 1960. The Australasian mycetophilid glowworms. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand 88 (3): 577–593.
[H02] Hong Y. 2002. Amber Insect of China. Beijing Scientific and Technological Publishing House.
[JG19] James, D. J., P. T. Green, W. F. Humphreys & J. C. Z. Woinarski. 2019. Endemic species of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. Records of the Western Australian Museum 34 (2): 55–114.
[L02] Latreille, P. A. 1802. Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière des crustacés et des insectes vol. 3. Familles naturelles des genres. F. Dufart: Paris.
[L88] Liebherr, J. K. 1988. General patterns in West Indian insects, and graphical biogeographic analysis of some circum-Caribbean Platynus beetles (Carabidae). Systematic Zoology 37 (4): 385–409.
[M83] Martin, N. A. 1983. Miscellaneous observations on a pasture fauna: an annotated species list. DSIR Entomology Division Report 3: 1–98.
[N70] Norris, K. R. 1970. General biology. In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 107–140. Melbourne University Press.
[O98] Oosterbroek, P. 1998. The Families of Diptera of the Malay Archipelago. Brill: Leiden.
[P92] Poinar, G. O., Jr. 1992. Life in Amber. Stanford University Press: Stanford.
[RD77] Richards, O. W., & R. G. Davies. 1977. Imms’ General Textbook of Entomology 10th ed. vol. 2. Classification and Biology. Chapman and Hall: London.
[SS51] Shaw, F. R., & M. M. Shaw. 1951. Relationships of certain genera of fungus gnats of the family Mycetophilidae. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 117 (3): 1–23.
[TC04] Toft, R. J., & P. J. Chandler. 2004. Three introduced species of Mycetophilidae (Diptera: Sciaroidea) established in New Zealand. New Zealand Entomologist 27: 43–49.
[TE27] Tonnoir, A. L., & F. W. Edwards. 1927. New Zealand fungus gnats (Diptera, Mycetophilidae). Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 747–878.
[V81] Vockeroth, J. R. 1981. Mycetophilidae. 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. 223–246. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.
[V09] Vockeroth, J. R. 2009. Keroplatidae (predaceous fungus gnats). 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. 259–263. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.
[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.