Some, such as Tachydromia, are predators that run around on the bark of trees in complex patterns, hence the common name. Tachydromiaspecies are only about three millimeters long.
Description
Hybotidae share some similarities with the family Dolichopodidae, when looking at rotation of genitalia and wing characteristics. Male terminalia are rotated dextrally between 45° and 90°, excluding segment 7. Hybotidae wings always have a simple R4+5 vein, where the costa either ends near or at M1/M1+2, or near or at R4+5/R5. Furthermore, it can be distinguished from Dolichopodidae by the point of vein Rs, which it at a distance from the humeral crossvein (h) equal to or longer than the length of h.[1]
Systematics
The Hybotidae clearly form a lineage quite distinct from the Empididae. Among the Empidoidea, they represent a lineage more basal than the main radiation of Empididae and Dolichopodidae, though they are not as ancient as the genera placed in the Atelestidae.[2][3]
Based on the most recent phylogenetic studies,[1] the relationship between Hybotidae and other members of Empidoidea is as follows. The placement of Hybotidae is emphasized in bold formatting.
^Jere Kahanpää (July 23, 2008). "Hybotidae". Draft Catalogue of Finnish Flies (Diptera: Brachycera). Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
^Chvála, Milan (1983). The Empidoidea (Diptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. II. General Part. The families Hybotidae, Atelestidae and Microphoridae. Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica. Vol. 12. pp. 1–279.
^Loew, H. (1864). "Ueber die schlesischen Arten der Gattungen Tachypeza Meig. (Tachypeza, Tachista, Dysaletria) und Microphorus Macq. (Trichina und Microphorus)". Zeitschrift für Entomologie. 14 (1860). Breslau: 1–60.
^Arias, J. E. (1919). "Description preliminar de un nuevo Empido de Espana". Boletín de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural. 19: 479–481.