NOMEN: Brachocera Macquart 1834: 183 [M. Macquart. Histoire naturelle des insectes. Dipteres. Tome 1. Paris, Librairie Encyclopedique de Roret, 1834]
ORIGINAL LISTED MEMBERSHIP (Macquart 1834):
Tabani + Coenomya
+ Pachystomus + Xylophagii
+ Stratiomydes
+ Mydasii
+ Asilici+ Hybotidae
+ Empides
+ Panops + Cyrtus + Phylopota + Astromella + Ogcodes
+ Acrocera + Nemestrinidae
+ Bombyliarii
+ Anthracii + Xylotomae + Rhagio/fg (= Leptides) + Dolichopoda
+ Syrphidae +
Scenopinii
+ Cephalopsida
+ Lonchopterinae
+ Platypezinae
+ Conopsariae
+ Myopariae
+ Oestrides
+ Muscidae
+ Pupipara 
JUNIOR CIRCUMSCRIPTIONAL SYNONYMS:
= Brachycera Zetterstedt 1842
= Brachycerina Pearce 1936
TYPIFIED NAME IN BASIC FORMAT: Musca/f=Oestrus/g (sine Tipula; incl. Tabanus)
TYPIFIED NAMES IN USE: Muscina
MODERN
STATUS: 
the valid, the
oldest name of a generally accepted, holophyletic taxon.
Systematic
position and classification of Brachocera:
| Diptera plesiomorphon Nemocera Brachocera (= "Brachycera" auct.) plesiomorphon Mesodiptera (= "Brachycera" auct.) Cyclorapha |
COMMENT. In modern literature, instead of Brachocera, a wrong name Brachycera is often used. Originally (Macquart 1834), the holophyletic taxon which includes all Diptera except for Nemocera, was named Brachocera. Later various authors used a changed name Brachycera, at the same time changing circumscription of a taxon to which it belongs. Schiner (1862) did not include to his Brachycera some taxa originally included to Brachocera – Hypocera and Pupipara. Brauer (1880) divided to Nematocera and Brachycera not all Diptera, but only suborder Orthorrhapha, thus his "Brachycera" correspond to a smaller part of Brachocera, namely to Mesodiptera; in agreement with this, in modern literature the name Brachycera is often used not only for Brachocera, but for Mesodiptera as well. In order to avoid confusion, the name Brachocera should be used in its original spelling for the taxon of original circumscription, but not substituted by "Brachycera".