| Heterocheila | |
|---|---|
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| figures 17, 18 | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Heterocheilidae McAlpine, 1991 |
| Genus: | Heterocheila Rondani, 1857 |
| Type species | |
| Heteromyza buccata Fallén, 1820
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| Species | |
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Heterocheila is a genus of acalyptrate true flies (Diptera). They are placed in their own family, Heterocheilidae, in the superfamily Sciomyzoidea.[1] They are not widely familiar outside entomological circles, but the common name "half-bridge flies" has been associated with them.[2] They are medium-sized flies occurring mainly in temperate regions on seashores of the Northern Hemisphere, where they and their larvae typically feed on stranded kelp in the wrack zone. In this, they resemble kelp flies, which are members of a different family, though the same superfamily.
The family Heterocheilidae was established by McAlpine in 1991.[2] He distinguished it from other families to which Heterocheila had hitherto been referred at various times and by various authorities[3] – Helcomyzidae, Dryomyzidae and Coelopidae.[4]
- ^ Mathis, Wayne N. World Catalog and Conspectus on the Family Heterocheilidae (Diptera: Schizophora). MYIA, 12:281–289 2011
- ^ a b McAlpine, D. K. 1991. Relationships of the genus Heterocheila (Diptera: Sciomyzoidea) with description of a new family. Tijdschr. Ent. 134: 193-199. [1991.12.18] online
- ^ McAlpine, D. K. 1998. Chapter 33. Family Heterocheilidae. Manual Palaearct. Dipt. 3: 345-347. [1998.11.30]
- ^ "Heterocheilidae [ ]".