ABSTRACT
Quite often, tiny larvae of other Nematocera that are not readily distinguished from gall midge larvae are found in soil, decaying wood, and fruiting bodies of fungi. More rarely such larvae are also found together with gall midge larvae in galls. In order to distinguish these larvae a short key to nematoceran larvae has been included. A complete key by Krivosheina was published in 1964. Up to the present no consensus on the system of the gall midges has yet been reached. The specialists have divided the family into three subfamilies: Lestremiinae, Heteropezinae, and Cecidomyiinae. Some leading systematical dipterologists consider these as three independent families, which are united into a superfamily. The larvae belonging to this subfamily vary strikingly in both shape and appearance. Their body may be elongated-oval as well as widened; it may be bare or, on the contrary, densely covered with various protuberances and outgrowths.
