Members of the Piophilidae, cheese skippers and allies, include moderately small flies (3.0­6.0 mm) that can be found worldwide, with most species confined to the more cool temperate regions. Adults are found on carrion, decaying organic matter, and excrement. Larvae of some extant forms are recorded from a variety of protein-rich plant and animal matter including cadavers and rotting fungi; while others (of the subfamily Neottiophilinae) are ectoparasitic on nestlings of passerine birds.

The fossil record of the family includes only one species, Mycetaulus incretus Melander, from the Oligocene Florissant fossil beds in central Colorado.

*MYCETAULUS Loew, 1845: 37. Type species: Mycetaulus hoffmeisteri Loew, 1845 [= Geomyza bipunctatus Fallén, 1823], by monotypy.

incretus Melander, 1949: 52. NE: USA (Oligocene) [C].