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These are small flies, generally 3.0-5.0 mm, inhabiting forests or
woodlands from lowland to
montane habitats. They are very rarely collected, and usually it is
males that are swept. Females are more terrestrial, but they are
normally winged and may be found in pitfall traps (Vaňhara
1980). Opetiids are sometimes missing in the material of large
dipterological projects (Vaňhara
et al. 2005), which may be the result of methodological
procedures. The larvae and host organisms are unknown.
The monographic study of European species (Chandler
2001) mentions only Opetia nigra, as does the Fauna
Europaea (Chandler
2007). There are some 3 species known from the Palaearctic
region (Chandler
& Shatalkin 1998). The previous
checklists (Vaňhara
1995,
1997,
2006) reported no more than the single European species from the
Czech Republic and Slovakia. The present list shows also no
changes over the last period.
The fauna of neighbouring countries (Austria, Germany, Hungary,
Poland) is also well
known (Chandler
2007). The nomenclature follows Chandler (2001,
2007).
For financial support, the Ministry of Education and
the Masaryk University (grant No. MSM 0021622416) are acknowledged.
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