From Wikipedia - Reading time: 6 min
| Muscoidea | |
|---|---|
| Anthomyia pluvialis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Clade: | Eremoneura |
| (unranked): | Cyclorrhapha |
| Section: | Schizophora |
| Subsection: | Calyptratae |
| Superfamily: | Muscoidea |
| Families | |
| |
Muscoidea is a superfamily of flies in the subsection Calyptratae. Muscoidea, with approximately 7000 described species, is nearly 5% of the known species level diversity of the Diptera, the true flies. Most muscoid flies are saprophagous, coprophagous or necrophagous as larvae, but some species are parasitic, predatory, or phytophagous.[1] In September 2008, a study was done on the superfamily using both nucleic and mitochondrial DNA and the conclusion suggested that Muscoidea may actually be paraphyletic.[2]