Lonchaeoidea

{{Short description|Superfamily of flies}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Lonchaea chorea.jpg

| image_caption = Wing venation and lateral aspect of head of Lonchaea chorea, family Lonchaeidae

| display_parents = 6

| taxon = Lonchaeoidea

| authority = G. C. Griffiths, 1972

}}

The Lonchaeoidea are a superfamily of generally small or very small black flies with large heads. It contains two families, the Lonchaeidae (lance flies){{cite book|author1=Jogeir N. Stokland|author2=Juha Siitonen|author3=Bengt Gunnar Jonsson|title=Biodiversity in Dead Wood|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3R4i5HKMfxEC&pg=PA47|access-date=5 April 2013|date=26 April 2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-88873-8|pages=47–}} and the Cryptochetidae. The superfamily was established by G. C. Griffiths in 1972Griffiths, G. C. Phylogenetic Classification of Diptera Cyclorrhapha. Publisher: Springer 1972. {{ISBN|978-9061931188}} and came into general use as such.{{cite book|author=S. C Willemstein|title=An Evolutionary Basis for Pollination Ecology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5-sUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA105|access-date=5 April 2013|year=1987|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=978-90-04-08457-5|pages=105–}}

Characteristics of the Lonchaeoidea include antennae with the second segment cleft, and not more than one proclinate orbital bristle on each side. The frons is densely setulose.{{cite book |author1=Richards, O. W. |author2=Davies, R.G. |title=Imms' General Textbook of Entomology: Volume 1: Structure, Physiology and Development Volume 2: Classification and Biology |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin |year=1977 |isbn=0-412-61390-5 }}