General description:
Flies with subscutellum (postscutellum) well-developed, strongly convex in profile (except Litophasia Girschner, Cinochira Zetterstedt), meral (hypopleural) bristles present (except Oxyphyllomyia Villeneuve); body often strongly bristled. Body length from less than 2 mm to 20 mm. First instar larva with strongly developed labrum fused to the rest of cephalopharyngeal skeleton; maxillae developed only in second and third instars. Larva endoparasitic in insects, rarely in other arthropods. (Wood 1987, Tschorsnig & Richter 1998)
Taxonomic name: