Rhagionidae

Rhagionidae or snipe flies are a small family of flies. They get their name from the similarity of their often prominent proboscis that looks like the beak of a snipe.

Description
Rhagionidae are medium-sized to large flies with slender bodies and stilt-like legs. The mouthparts are adapted for piercing and many species are haematophagous as adults, while others are predatory on other insects. They are typically brown and yellow flies, and lack bristles. The larvae are also predatory and are mostly terrestrial, although some are aquatic.

Snipe flies in the genus Rhagio are sometimes called "down-looker" flies after their habit of perching head-downward on tree trunks.

Classification
The family is contained in Brachycera infraorder Tabanomorpha, and several of its constituent groups have been recently elevated to family rank. Atherix (and related genera) now comprise the Athericidae, Vermileo (and related genera) now comprise the Vermileonidae, and the genera Austroleptis and Bolbomyia are each now the sole members of their own families (Austroleptidae and Bolbomyiidae).

List of subfamilies and genera
Arthrocerinae Williston, 1886 Chrysopilinae Bezzi, 1903 Rhagioninae Latreille, 1802 Spaniinae Frey, 1954 Incertae sedis
 * Arthroceras Williston, 1886 - Nearctic, Palearctic
 * Chrysopilus Macquart, 1826 - Nearctic, Palearctic, Afrotropic, Neotropic, Oriental
 * Schizella Bezzi, 1926 - Philippines
 * Stylospania Frey, 1954 - Philippines
 * Arthroteles Bezzi, 1926 - Afrotropic
 * Atherimorpha White, 1914 - Australasia, Neotropic, Afrotropic
 * Desmomyia Brunetti, 1912 - Palearctic, Oriental
 * Rhagio Fabricius, 1775 - Nearctic, Palearctic
 * Sierramyia Kerr, 2010 - Nearctic/Neotropic
 * Litoleptis Chillcott, 1963 - Nearctic, Oriental, Neotropic
 * Omphalophora Becker, 1900 - Palearctic, Nearctic
 * Palaeoarthroteles Kovalev & Mostovski, 1997
 * Ptiolina Staeger in Zetterstedt, 1842 - Nearctic, Palearctic
 * Spania Meigen, 1830 - Nearctic, Palearctic
 * Spaniopsis White, 1914 - Australasia
 * Symphoromyia Frauenfeld, 1867 - Nearctic, Palearctic
 * Alloleptis Nagatomi & Saigusa in Nagatomi, 1982 - Sulawesi