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Brachycera

 
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Brachycera
 
 
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Brachycera is a suborder of Diptera. It is a major suborder consisting of around 120 families
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
. The most distinguishing characteristic of the suborder is reduced antenna
Antenna (biology)

Antennae are paired appendages connected to the front-most morphogenesis of arthropods. In crustaceans, they are biramous and present on the first two segments of the head, with the smaller pair known as antennules....
 segmentation. A summary of main physiological characteristics follows:



Brachyceran flies can also be distinguished through behavior. Many of the species are predators or scavenger
Scavenger

Scavenging, or necrophagy, is a carnivorous feeding behaviour in which a predator consumes corpses or carrion that were not killed to be eaten by the predator or others of its species....
s.

structures of subgroups within the Brachycera is a source of much confusion and controversy; many of the names used historically (e.g.






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Brachycera is a suborder of Diptera. It is a major suborder consisting of around 120 families
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
. The most distinguishing characteristic of the suborder is reduced antenna
Antenna (biology)

Antennae are paired appendages connected to the front-most morphogenesis of arthropods. In crustaceans, they are biramous and present on the first two segments of the head, with the smaller pair known as antennules....
 segmentation. A summary of main physiological characteristics follows:

  • Reduced antenna
    Antenna (biology)

    Antennae are paired appendages connected to the front-most morphogenesis of arthropods. In crustaceans, they are biramous and present on the first two segments of the head, with the smaller pair known as antennules....
     size (with 8 or fewer flagellomeres).
  • A maxillary
    Maxillary

    Maxillary is something related to the maxilla bone. It may be:*Maxillary artery*Maxillary nerve*Maxillary prominence*Maxillary sinus...
     palp (an elongated appendage near the mouth) having only 2 segments or less.
  • The back portions of the larval head capsule extend into the prothorax
    Prothorax

    The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites are the pronotum , the prosternum , and the propleuron on each side....
     (the anterior part of the thorax which bears the first pair of legs).
  • There are two distinct parts which comprise of the larval mandible
    Mandible

    The mandible or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth in place. It also refers to both the upper and lower sections of the beaks of birds....
     (lower jaw).
  • The epandrium and hypandrium of the genitalia are separated in males.
  • No premandible on the lower surface of the labrum
    Labrum

    Labrum can refer to:* In architecture, the large vessel of a warm bath in the Ancient Rome thermae. These were cut out of great blocks of marble and granite, and have generally an overhanging lip....
     (the roof of the mouth).
  • A distinct configuration of the CuA2 and A1 wing
    Wing

    A wing is a surface used to produce Lift for flight through the Earth's atmosphere or another gaseous or fluid medium. The wing shape is usually an airfoil....
     veins.


Brachyceran flies can also be distinguished through behavior. Many of the species are predators or scavenger
Scavenger

Scavenging, or necrophagy, is a carnivorous feeding behaviour in which a predator consumes corpses or carrion that were not killed to be eaten by the predator or others of its species....
s.

Classification

The structures of subgroups within the Brachycera is a source of much confusion and controversy; many of the names used historically (e.g. Orthorrhapha
Orthorrhapha

Orthorrhapha is a circumscriptional name which historically was used for an infraorder of Brachycera, one of the two suborders into which the order Diptera, the flies, are divided....
) have not been used in decades, but still persist in textbooks, checklists, faunal catalogs, and other sources. Additionally, most recent classifications no longer use the Linnaean ranks for taxa (e.g., the Tree of Life Web Project
Tree of Life Web Project

The Tree of Life Web Project is an ongoing Internet project providing information about the biodiversity and phylogeny of life on Earth. This collaborative peer reviewed project began in 1995, and is written by biologists from around the world....
), and this creates its own set of problems. See discussion for details.

See also


  • Larger Brachycera
    Larger Brachycera

    The Larger Brachycera is a name which refers to true fly in the following families of the suborder Brachycera:* Acroceridae, the hunchback-flies...


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