Phoridae
| Phoridae Temporal range:  | |
|---|---|
| Pseudacteon sp., showing the humped back that is characteristic of the family | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota | 
| Kingdom: | Animalia | 
| Phylum: | Arthropoda | 
| Class: | Insecta | 
| Order: | Diptera | 
| Section: | Aschiza | 
| Superfamily: | Platypezoidea | 
| Family: | Phoridae Curtis, 1833 | 
| Subfamilies | |
| 
 | |
The Phoridae are a family of small, hump-backed flies resembling fruit flies. Phorid flies can often be identified by their escape habit of running rapidly across a surface rather than taking flight. This behaviour is a source of one of their alternate names, scuttle fly. Another vernacular name, coffin fly, refers to Conicera tibialis. About 4,000 species are known in 230 genera. The most well-known species is cosmopolitan Megaselia scalaris. At 0.4 mm in length, the world's smallest fly is the phorid Euryplatea nanaknihali.