Muscoidea is a superfamily of flies in the subsection Calyptratae. Muscoidea, with approximately 7000 described species, is nearly 5% of the known species level diversity of the Diptera, the true flies. Most muscoid flies are saprophagous, coprophagous or necrophagous as larvae, but some species are parasitic, predatory, or phytophagous.[1]
In September 2008, a study was done on the superfamily using both nucleic and mitochondrial DNA and the conclusion suggested that Muscoidea may actually be paraphyletic.[2]
