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Mostly medium-sized (5.0-10.0 mm) brachyceran
flies related to the Tabanidae. Eyes almost contiguous in males and
widely separated in females; flagellum compact, reniform, with a
subapical arista. Wing relatively large, with a more or less
distinct dark pattern; legs with apical spurs on mid and hind
tibiae. Abdominal tergites usually transversely fasciate, sometimes
with an extensive pale pattern in males. The aquatic larvae are
provided with pairs of prolegs on abdominal segments 1-7. Two dorsal
and two lateral elongated tracheal projections are developed on
abdominal segments 2-7 (or 6-7 in Atrichops). The larvae are
predators of soft-bodied aquatic insect larvae. Adults may be found
along watercourses, and aggregations of dead Atherix ibis
females with attached egg-masses may be found below bridges and on
the branches of trees over the water.
The Athericidae are a small family, with only ten
species in four genera occurring in Europe (Rozkošný
2007), and three species are known from the Czech Republic as
well as from Slovakia. Since the PCV2 (Rozkošný
& Spitzer 1997),
Atrichops crassipes has also been reliably recorded from the
Czech Republic, both from Bohemia (Hřebík
2004) and from Moravia (Zapletal
2001). The morphology, biology and distribution of the
Palaearctic genera has been dealt with by Rozkošný and Nagatomi (1997),
and the Central European species may be identified using the key by
Thomas (1997).
Nomenclature follows the Fauna Europaea (Rozkošný
2007).
For financial support, the Ministry of Education of the Czech
Republic and the Masaryk University (grant No. MSM 0021622416) are
acknowledged.
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