Overview
This wholly Australian family is readily recognised by wing structure: vein C bows forward in the fore wing, creating a wide costal cell, and there are numerous cross-veins.
Chorista
and
Neochorista
typically have no cross-veins in cell C beyond the humeral vein, while
Taeniochorista
has 3-6. In males, the rostrum and particularly the maxillary and labial palps are highly modified, providing good characters for species recognition (Riek 1973).
Chorista
and
Neochorista
range from south-central Vic. to eastern N.S.W., from the coast to about 200 km inland.
Taeniochorista
occurs from south-eastern Qld to near Sydney, N.S.W. Known larvae have transverse bands of short setae on most segments, stout prolegs, and many-faceted, compound eyes; they occur in surface soil and leaf litter and are saprophagous. The mature larva excavates a cell in soil, enters an extended prepupal stage, and adults emerge in late summer and autumn.