Overview
Periscelis
is usually found on trunks of rainforest trees.
Cyamops
often rests on damp stones in streams. Flies of these two genera generally only walk slowly forwards.
Stenomicra
includes curious flies that maintain a head-upwards position when on a vertical surface, but can run in any direction without turning (compare family Neurochaetidae). Various
Stenomicra
species (mostly undescribed) are associated with particular taxa of the Australian flora (author's observations), e.g.
Alocasia
(Araceae),
Kingia
(Xanthorrhoeaceae =Dasypogonaceae),
Lomandra
(Xanthorrhoeaceae =Lomandraceae),
Musa
(Musaceae - both native and cultivated), and
Pandanus
(Pandanaceae).
Description
These small, slender and somewhat flattened flies have the following diagnostic features:
Face strongly sclerotised, convex or protuberant medially; orbital bristles one or two; antenna with pedicel dorsally slit; first flagellomere usually deflexed; arista with penultimate segment asymmetrical or absent; terminal segment long-plumose; fore coxa with basal membranous foramen not more than half as long as coxa.
Distribution
The family has an extensive world distribution, but the majority of species live in the wet tropics. The genera
Periscelis
,
Cyamops
and
Stenomicra
have wide overseas distributions, but the 17 Australian species are probably mostly endemic.