DIPTERA > NEMATOCERA | Lower Diptera

PSYCHODOMORPHA > Anisopodoidea > Anisopodidae (5 species)

(subfamilies: none)

A very small family of just five species that are encountered mainly in summer in woodlands, meadows and gardens near their larval habitats, which includes all sorts of rotting and decomposing material. Adults visit flowers and sap exuding from tree wounds, and when resting are usually found on vertical surfaces such as tree trunks and walls. They are also regularly seen on windows, which has given them the alternative common name of window gnats.

Family characteristics are given as small to large (4-12mm), delicate, yellowish or brownish coloured flies; head small and rounded, eyes dichoptic or holoptic; antenna with 16 segments varying from relatively short to longer than the head and thorax together; wings wide with clear anal lobe and a pattern of smaller markings; medial sector of the wing reaching the wing margin as four veins and with a cross-vein connecting the two pairs of veins to form a discal cell; vein M continuing back to the base of the wing; wings with dark markings and with hairs present on the wing surface at least towards the tip; wing length 4-7.5 mm; legs slender and relatively long.

First published, Nov.21 (v.1)