The Brachyceran infraorder Tabanomorpha is a small group that consists primarily of two large families, the Tabanidae (horse and deer flies) and Rhagionidae (snipe flies), and an assortment of very small affiliated families, most of which have been (or could be, or sometimes are) included within the Rhagionidae.

The forewing has a costa along its entire perimeter (though its posterior portion may be weaker), while the tarsi have pulvilliform empodia.

[3] Larval Tabanomorpha have a retractable head capsule and a brush of setae just under the fold of the integument.

[3] Adults of most species feed on nectar and pollen, but blood-feeding (hematophagy) occurs in the majority of female Tabanidae, some Rhagionidae and an Athericidae.

There are two superfamily-level lineages currently recognized within Tabanomorpha; the Tabanoidea and the Rhagionoidea (the latter comprising Austroleptidae, Bolbomyiidae, and Rhagionidae).