?Mycetophilidae
Exechia concinna
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Diptera Suborder: Nematocera Infraorder: Bibionomorpha Family: Mycetophilidae
Genera
About 150 see list of mycetophilid/keroplatid genera Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subregnum Agnotozoa Placozoa (trichoplax) Orthonectida (orthonectids) Rhombozoa (dicyemids) Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) (radial symmetry) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Bilateria (unranked) (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Myxozoa (slime animals) Superphylum Deuterostomia (blastopore becomes anus) Chordata (vertebrates, etc. ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - spiders,scorpions, etc. ... Classes & Orders See taxonomy Insects are invertebrate animals of the Class Insecta, the largest and (on land) most widely-distributed taxon within the phylum Arthropoda. ... Suborders Nematocera(Eudiptera) Brachycera Green Bottle Fly Flesh Fly Fannia a Lesser House Fly (unidentified species) Dolichopodidae (unidentified species) Diptera (di - two, ptera – wings), or true flies, is the order of insects in which the hind wings are reduced to halteres. ... Nematocera are generally primitive flies, all with filamentous antennae which may be plumose in some males. ... Superfamilies    Anisopodidae¤    Bibionidae¤    Bolitophilidae¤    Cecidomyiidae¤    Diadocidiidae¤    Ditomyiidae¤    Hesperinidae¤    Keroplatidae¤    Lygistorrhinidae¤    Mycetophilidae¤    Pachyneuridae¤    Perissommatidae¤    Scatopsidae¤    Sciaridae¤    Keroplatidae Bibionomorpha is a infraorder of Eudiptera. ...

Mycetophilidae is a family of very small flies, forming the bulk of those species known as fungus gnats. There are approximately 3000 described species in 150 genera but the true number of species is undoubtedly much higher. They are generally found in the damp habitats favoured by their host fungi and sometimes form dense swarms. Dance fly male Empis tesselata The flesh fly, Sarcophaga carnaria Close-up of the head of a blow-fly. ... Fungus gnats are small, dark, short-lived flies, of the families Sciaridae and Mycetophilidae (order Diptera), whose larvae feed on plant roots or fungi and aid in the decomposition of organic matter. ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Glomeromycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota Deuteromycota A fungus (plural fungi) is a eukaryotic organism that digests its food externally and absorbs the nutrient molecules into its cells. ...

Adults of this family can usually be separated from other small flies by the strongly humped thorax but identification within the family between genera and species generally requires close study of microscopic features. The terrestrial larvae usually feed on fungi, especially the spores and hyphae, but some species have been recorded on mosses and liverworts. The larvae of some species, while still being associated with fungi, are at least partly predatory. Diagram of a tsetse fly, showing the head, thorax and abdomen The thorax is a division of an animals body that lies between the head and the abdomen. ... A microscope (Greek: micron = small and scopos = aim) is an instrument for viewing objects that are too small to be seen by the naked or unaided eye. ... Animal environments are classified as either aquatic (water), terrestrial (land), or amphibious (water and land). ... A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians). ... Spores produced in a sporic life cycle. ... Hyphae as seen under a log A hypha (plural hyphae) is a long, branching filament found primarily in fungi, but also in fungus-like bacteria such as Actinomyces and Streptomyces. ... Subclasses Sphagnidae Andreaeidae Tetraphidae Polytrichidae Archidiidae Buxbaumiidae Bryidae Mosses are small, soft, obese teachers that prance around Athens. ... Orders Haplomitriales Sphaerocarpales Marchantiales Metzgeriales Monocleales Jungermanniales Takakiales Liverworts are non-vascular plants, also called hepatics (scientific name Hepaticophyta). ... This snapping turtle is trying to make a meal of a Canada goose, but the goose is too wary. ...

Bioluminescence

Around a dozen mycetophilid species are unique among flies in displaying bioluminescence. In some species this is restricted to the larval stage but in others this feature is retained by the pupae and adults. It has been suggested that the ability to produce their own light is used by some predatory larvae as a lure for potential prey, although it also obviously makes themselves more susceptible to predation or parasitism. Image of hundreds of agar plates cultured with a species of bioluminescent marine bacteria displayed in a pattern as an art exhibit called Bioglyphs at Montana State University–Bozeman. ... Chrysalis of Gulf Fritillary in Georgetown, South Carolina Pupation of Inachis io A pupa (plural: pupae or pupas) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. ... Parasitism is an interaction between two organisms, in which one organism (the parasite) benefits and the other (the host) is harmed, though usually without killing the host. ...

Taxonomy

Some 800 species (including some of the bioluminescent species) have recently been split into a separate family, Keroplatidae. This split is not universally recognized as yet and many sources still include the keroplatid genera within Mycetophilidae (see link to list in taxobox).

Evolution

Mycetophilids, including some extant genera, are well represented in amber deposits and the group appears to have been well established and diversified by the Cretaceous period at the latest. A hypothetical phylogenetic tree of all extant organisms, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence data, showing the evolutionary history of the three domains of life, bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. ... Amber pendants. ... The Cretaceous period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic period, about 146 million years ago (Ma), to the beginning of the Paleocene epoch of the Tertiary period (65. ...

References

• [1], [2] - family descriptions
• Bioluminescence in Mycetophilidae