preferred by Scatopsini and Swammerdamellini, with Ectaetia living in rotten wood, Arthria and Rhexoza under bark of decaying trees, and Ectaetia and Holoplagia in tree holes. Various genera are terricolous (living in soil), with Aspistes in sandy soils, Parascatopse in saltings, some Psectrosciarinae and Rhegmoclematini in wet/marshy soils, and Apiloscatopse in forest leaf litter. Fungi are used by Coboldia fuscipes as well as species of Scatopse and Apiloscatopse. Various genera including Scatopse, Coboldia, Cookella and Anapausis live in dung. Animal matter such as carrion is used by Scatopse and Coboldia. A few species of Colobostema and Holoplagia are myrmecophilous (associated with ants), and presumably feed on debris in ant nests. There are even some Scatopsinae which are aquatic, living in forest springs and presumably feeding on waterlogged dead leaves. Larvae of C. fuscipes and S. notata have also been reported from the waste of canneries and wineries. Behaviour Scatopsidae may form swarms of up to thousands of individuals, sometimes including several species at once, possibly for reproduction. Scatopsidae mate in a tail-tail position and mating can last for a long time. One species, Thripomorpha halterata, has been observed doing rhythmic wing movements while swarming, which may be a courtship behaviour. Name The family name Scatopsidae literally translates to "looks like feces" (from Greek skat "dung" and opsi "appearance"). It is derived from the genus Scatopse, which has been frequently misspelled as Scatops. See also List of Australian Scatopsidae References - Family descriptions Further reading Species descriptions Cook, E.F. (1969). A synopsis of the Scatopsidae of the Palaearctic Part I. Rhegmoclematini. Journal of Natural History 3(3): 393-407 (HTML abstract) Cook, E.F. (1972). A synopsis of the Scatopsidae of the Palaearctic Part II. Swammerdamellini. Journal of Natural History 6(6): 625-634. Cook, E.F. (1974). A Synopsis of the Scatopsidae of the palaearctic Part III. The Scatopsini. Journal of Natural History 8(1): 61-100 Fossil record de Souza Amorim, D. (1998). Amber Fossil Scatopsidae (Diptera: Psychodomorpha). I. Considerations on Described Taxa, Procolobostema roseni, new species, from Dominican Amber, and the Position of Procolobostema in the Family. American Museum Novitates 3227; 1-17. PDF fulltext External links Scatopsidae in Italian BioLib: Incomplete taxonomic tree of Scatopsidae List of nearctic Scatopsidae species Picture of Rhegmoclema hubachecki Diptera.info Images EOL images Nematocera families Articles containing video clips