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Small flies (6.0-8.0 mm) with long, slender legs. Body
yellowish-brown, usually with brown markings. Head with well
developed haired eyes and 3 ocelli. Antenna 2+14 segmented,
flagellomeres cylindrical or compressed and pectinate. Mesonotum
usually with three longitudinal dark stripes. Postpronotum with long
fine seta or setae. Wings relatively broad, slightly smoky or
patterned with dark transverse bands. R4 long, ending in C
laterally. Sc short, sclerotized only at base, ending free. Wing
membrane with macrotrichia. The larvae are white, with head capsule
strongly sclerotized, and prothorax and eight abdominal segments with
spiracles (peripneustic type). The pupa is free, without a web
cocoon.
The larvae (Ditomyia Winnertz, 1846) are mycophagous, living
in the fruiting bodies of various tree fungi (e.g. Polyporus
sp. div., Trametes sp. div.) where they pupate (c.f.
Ševčík 2001). The larvae of Symmerus Walker, 1848
probably develop in rotting wood. The adults occur mostly in the
undergrowth of deciduous or mixed forests, in shaded places
alongside streams, the overhang of stream banks, and in the space
between bank tree roots.
There are about 80 species in the world, 19 species in three genera
in the Palaearctic region, and four species in Europe (Chandler
2007,
Mamaev & Krivosheina 1988,
Søli
et al. 2000). In the present checklist, four species are reported
from the Czech Republic (both for Bohemia and Moravia)
and four species from Slovakia. Since the ECV1 (Košel
& Ševčík 2006), the extremely rare
species Ditomyia macroptera hitherto known from
the Czech Republic (both Bohemia and Moravia, Ševčík
2004,
Ševčík et al. 2005), has been
recorded from Slovakia (Ševčík
2007).
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