Anisopodidae

Anisopodidae View in CoL View at ENA

This family encompasses eight extant genera worldwide, with over 160 described species ( Hancock and Amorim 2009, Hancock 2017, González et al. 2019). The Neotropical fauna of Anisopodidae is composed of 65 described species within six genera: Carreraia Corrêa, 1947 , Sylvicola Harris, 1780 , Olbiogaster Osten Sacken, 1886 , Lobogaster Philippi, 1865 , and Mycetobia Meigen, 1818 . Among these genera, Carreraia (one species), Olbiogaster (15 species), and Sylvicola (seven species) have been recorded for Brazil ( Falaschi et al. 2016b, Falaschi and Oliveira 2024).

Anisopodids are often called ‘window gnats’ and are associated with humid habitats such as forests. Their immatures are saprophagous and are often found in decaying or fermenting organic matter, primarily of plant origin. However, some species may exploit animal carcasses or dung ( Hancock 2017).