This is the more advanced Diptera suborder, which includes 84 families separated into various clades or unranked divisions, infraorders and superfamilies. The primary distinguishing characteristic is that unlike the Nematocera species that have long segmented antennae, all the Brachyceran flies have reduced antennal segments, as the flagella are fused together with the remaining diminutive segments forming a stumpy style or bristle-like arista. Whereas Nematocera effectively means species with ‘thread-horns’, Brachycera means ‘shortened-horns’.

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The following listing provides a personal reference document of all the species I've seen and have managed to photograph but, whereas the thumbnail images for most of the species in other orders link to a dedicated 'species account', there are simply too many individual Diptera species, so the arrangement here is different. Clicking any of the thumbnail images below will take you to a common 'family account' page, which includes a bit of basic information together with photos of each species. The details generally relate to the family as a whole but, for some species, there are extra notes with features to assist identification.