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Larger Brachycera
The larger brachycera is a name which refers to flies in the following families of the suborder Brachycera: * Acroceridae – hunch-back flies * Asilidae – robber flies * Athericidae – water snipe flies * Bombyliidae – bee flies * Rhagionidae – snipe flies * Scenopinidae – window flies * Stratiomyidae – soldier flies * Tabanidae – horse flies * Therevidae The Therevidae are a family of flies of the superfamily Asiloidea commonly known as stiletto flies. The family contains about 1,600 described species worldwide, most diverse in arid and semiarid regions with sandy soils. The larvae are predators ... – stiletto flies * Xylomyidae – wood soldier flies * Xylophagidae – awl-flies References Brachycera {{Brachycera-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
True Fly
Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced mechanosensory organs known as halteres, which act as high-speed sensors of rotational movement and allow dipterans to perform advanced aerobatics. Diptera is a large order containing more than 150,000 species including horse-flies, crane flies, hoverflies, mosquitoes and others. Flies have a mobile head, with a pair of large compound eyes, and mouthparts designed for piercing and sucking (mosquitoes, black flies and robber flies), or for lapping and sucking in the other groups. Their wing arrangement gives them great manoeuvrability in flight, and claws and pads on their feet enable them to cling to smooth surfaces. Flies undergo complete metamorphosis; the eggs are often laid on the larval food-source and the larvae, which lack true limb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suborder (biology)
Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized by the nomenclature codes. An immediately higher rank, superorder, is sometimes added directly above order, with suborder directly beneath order. An order can also be defined as a group of related families. What does and does not belong to each order is determined by a taxonomist, as is whether a particular order should be recognized at all. Often there is no exact agreement, with different taxonomists each taking a different position. There are no hard rules that a taxonomist needs to follow in describing or recognizing an order. Some taxa are accepted almost universally, while others are recognized only rarely. The name of an order is usually written with a capital letter. For some groups of organisms, their orders may follow consistent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brachycera
The Brachycera are a suborder of the order Diptera. It is a major suborder consisting of around 120 families. Their most distinguishing characteristic is reduced antenna segmentation. Description A summary of the main physical characteristics is: * Antenna size (with eight or fewer flagellomeres) is reduced. In many species the third segment, the flagellum, is fused, except from a bristle called the arista that is sticking out from the fused flagellum. The arista consist of no more than three segments called aristomeres. * The maxillary palp (an elongated appendage near the mouth) has two segments or fewer. * The back portions of the larval head capsule extend into the prothorax (the anterior part of the thorax, which bears the first pair of legs). * Two distinct parts make up of the larval mandible (lower jaw). * The epandrium and hypandrium of the genitalia are separated in males. * No premandible is present on the lower surface of the labrum (the roof of the mout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Entomological And Natural History Society
The British Entomological and Natural History Society or BENHS is a British entomological society. It is based at Dinton Pastures Country Park in Reading, England. History BENHS was founded in 1872 as the South London Entomological and Natural History Society. Publications BENHS publishes a quarterly journal, the ''British Journal of Entomology and Natural History'' (), formerly Proceedings and Transactions of the British Entomological and Natural History Society, and Proceedings and Transactions of the South London Entomological and Natural History Society. BENHS has published a number of books. Among the most well-known are two illustrated identification guides to British flies: * Stubbs, Alan E. and Steven J. Falk (1983) '' British Hoverflies, an illustrated identification guide'' * Stubbs, Alan E. and Martin Drake (2001) '' British Soldierflies and their allies'' Another title published by BENHS was '' New British Beetles - species not in Joy's practical handbook'' b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acroceridae
The Acroceridae are a small family of odd-looking flies. They have a hump-backed appearance with a strikingly small head, generally with a long proboscis for accessing nectar. They are rare and not widely known. The most frequently applied common names are small-headed flies or hunch-back flies. Many are bee or wasp mimics. Because they are parasitoids of spiders, they also are sometimes known as spider flies. Description The Acroceridae vary in size from small to fairly large, about the size of large bees, with a wingspan over 25 mm in some species. As a rule, both sexes have tiny heads and a characteristic hump-backed appearance because of the large, rounded thorax. In appearance, they are compact flies without major bristles, but many species have a bee-like hairiness on their bodies, and some are bee or wasp mimics. In most species, the eyes are holoptic in both sexes, the heads seemingly composed mainly of the large faceted eyes. This is in contrast to many insects ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asilidae
The Asilidae are the robber fly family, also called assassin flies. They are powerfully built, bristly flies with a short, stout proboscis enclosing the sharp, sucking Insect mouthparts#Hypopharynx, hypopharynx. The name "robber flies" reflects their expert predatory habits; they feed mainly or exclusively on other insects and, as a rule, they wait in ambush and catch their prey in flight. Overview The Asilidae are a family in the Order (biology), order fly, Diptera, the true flies. The common name for members of the family is robber flies, a name first suggested in 1869 by Alpheus Spring Packard, Alpheus Packard based on the German "Raubfliegen" (predatory flies). The Asilidae are Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan, with over 7000 described species. Pierre André Latreille, Latreille was the authority for establishing the family in 1802. The Asilidae, together with Bombyliidae and Therevidae, are the most representative families of the superfamily of Asiloidea and they for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Athericidae
Athericidae is a small family of flies known as water snipe flies or ibis flies. They used to be placed in the family Rhagionidae, but were removed by Stuckenberg in 1973. They are now known to be more closely related to Tabanidae. Species of Athericidae are found worldwide. Ecology The adults mostly feed on nectar but some species feed on mammal blood. Hematophagy has been demonstrated in adult ''Suragina'' and ''Suraginella'' and is suspected in other genera. Larvae do not feed in the first instar; after first molting, they become predatory. Larvae typically prey on invertebrates or are saprophagous. The larvae have distinctive morphology. Their head capsule is well developed dorsally, and they have long abdominal prolegs with crocheted hooks. These structures help the larvae move without being washed away in their preferred larval habitat, fast-flowing montane streams and torrents. The larvae are predators of other aquatic invertebrates such as caddisflies. Adults have stout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bombyliidae
The Bombyliidae are a family of flies, commonly known as bee flies. Some are colloquially known as bomber flies. Adults generally feed on nectar and pollen, some being important pollinators. Larvae are mostly parasitoids of other insects. Overview The Bombyliidae are a large family of flies comprising hundreds of genera, but the life cycles of most species are poorly known, or not at all. Their size varies between species ranging from 2 mm long to a 40 mm wingspan making them some of the largest flies. When at rest, many species hold their wings at a characteristic "swept back" angle. Adults generally feed on nectar and pollen, some being important pollinators, often with spectacularly long proboscises adapted to plants such as '' Lapeirousia'' species with very long, narrow floral tubes. Unlike butterflies, bee flies hold their proboscis straight, and cannot retract it. Many Bombyliidae superficially resemble bees and accordingly the prevalent common name for a member of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhagionidae
Rhagionidae or snipe flies are a small family of flies. They get their name from the similarity of their often prominent proboscis that looks like the beak of a snipe. Description Rhagionidae are medium-sized to large flies with slender bodies and stilt-like legs. The mouthparts are adapted for piercing and many species are haematophagous as adults, while others are predatory on other insects. They are typically brown and yellow flies, and lack bristles. The larvae are also predatory and are mostly terrestrial, although some are aquatic.Watson & Dallwitz Snipe flies in the genus '' Rhagio'' are sometimes called "down-looker" flies after their habit of perching head-downward on tree trunks. Classification The family is contained in Brachycera infraorder Tabanomorpha, and several of its constituent groups have been recently elevated to family rank. '' Atherix'' (and related genera) now comprise the Athericidae, '' Vermileo'' (and related genera) now comprise the Vermil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scenopinidae
The Scenopinidae or window flies are a small (about 400 described species) family of flies (Diptera), distributed worldwide. In buildings, they are often taken at windows, hence the common name window flies. The two species with cosmopolitan distributions are associated with the movement of trade goods ('' Scenopinus fenestralis'' and ''S. glabrifrons''). Very little is known of the larval biology; larvae have been found associated with stored-grain pests, in nests of birds and rodents, in beetle larvae burrows in trees and shrubs, and in association with therevid larvae in soil. They may be predators of the larvae of other insects. Adults have sponging mouthparts and are found on open flowers. Description The adults are small insects, usually with the body no longer than 5 mm, glabrous or slightly hairy and with blackish livery. The head is holoptic in the males of most species, and dichoptic in females. It is provided with three ocelli. The pendulous antennae are compo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stratiomyidae
The soldier flies (Stratiomyidae, sometimes misspelled as Stratiomyiidae, from Greek - soldier; - fly) are a family of flies (historically placed in the now-obsolete group Orthorrhapha). The family contains over 2,700 species in over 380 extant genera worldwide. Larvae are found in a wide array of locations, mostly in wetlands, damp places in soil, sod, under bark, in animal excrement, and in decaying organic matter. Adults are found near larval habitats. They are diverse in size and shape, though they commonly are partly or wholly metallic green, or somewhat wasplike mimics, marked with black and yellow or green and sometimes metallic. They are often rather inactive flies which typically rest with their wings placed one above the other over the abdomen. The Stratiomyinae are a subfamily that tend to have an affinity to aquatic environments. Etymology In English, the Stratiomidi are commonly called soldier flies, in German ''Waffenfliegen'' ("armed flies"). In the Italian l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
