It is a tiny, relict family with a single extant genus, Nannochorista, with eight species occurring in New Zealand, southeastern Australia, Tasmania, Argentina and Chile.

[2] The adults are thought probably to be adapted to liquid feeding, likely on flower nectar and/or the juice of fruits.

Adults of Australian and South American species are often found in habitats like the edges of streams, lakes, as well as montane bogs.

[3] Fossils indicate that Nannochoristidae formerly had a wider distribution, being present in the Northern Hemisphere during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous.

[4] Some research suggests the nannochoristids are the only holometabolous insects with true larval compound eyes.