Deuterophlebia, also known as mountain midges are a genus of flies that are the sole living members of the small familyDeuterophlebiidae. Adults have broad, fan-shaped wings, and males have extremely long antennae which they employ when contesting territories over running water, waiting for females to hatch.[2] Larvae occur in swiftly flowing streams and are easily recognized by their forked antennae and the prolegs on the abdomen.
One classification places this family in its own infraorderDeuterophlebiomorpha, but this has not gained wide acceptance.[3] A recent phylogeny of the entire order Diptera places them as the sister group to all other flies.[4]
Fossil members of the family are known from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber of Myanmar, dating to around 100 million years ago.[5]
Species
Species of the genus are known from Afghanistan, Kashmir, Northeast India, China, Japan, Korea, Eastern Siberia, and western North America from Alaska to California to Colorado.[5]
