Background: The biogeographical and ecological history of true flies (Diptera) in New Zealand is little known due to a scarcity of fossil specimens. Here, we report a fauna of immature aquatic dipterans from freshwater diatomites of the early Miocene Foulden Maar Fossil-Lagerstätte in southern New Zealand.
Methods: We document 30 specimens of immature dipterans, mostly pupae, and compare their external morphology to extant aquatic Diptera.