The Camillidae are a family of

flies Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwin ...

, or Diptera. The family has five

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

(four living; one fossil).

Description

For terms see

Morphology of Diptera Dipteran morphology differs in some significant ways from the broader insect morphology, morphology of insects. The Diptera is a very large and diverse Order (biology), order of mostly small to medium-sized insects. They have prominent compound ey ...

Minute ( long), slender, lustrous black flies with hyaline wings. The postvertical bristles on the head are cruciate. There are three small orbital bristles on head on each side of frons, one of which is poorly developed. The vibrissae on the head are well developed. The arista has long rays above and shorter rays below. There are two pairs of dorsocentral bristles on thorax and one mesopleural bristle on the side of the thorax. The costa is interrupted near R1, the subcosta reduced and close to R1, the posterior basal wing cell and discoidal wing cell are fused; anal wing cell rudimentary. Femur of forelegs has a spine on its ventral side.

Biology

The lifestyle of the Camillidae is for the most part little known. There is an assumption that the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e feed on decaying plant matter or animal faeces. Adults have frequently been found at the entrances of mammal burrows, or captured in mammal nests. Adults may be also found feeding on flowers. One species has been reared from larvae in the dung of rock hyraxes in Southern Africa (Barraclough, 1992).

Genera

*'' Camilla'' Haliday in

Curtis Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from the Old French ''curteis'' (Modern French">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of Fren ...

, 1837 *'' Afrocamilla'' Barraclough, 1992 *'' Katacamilla'' Papp, 1978 *'' Teratocamilla'' Barraclough, 1993 *†'' Protocamilla'' Hannig 1965

Identification

*Duda, O. 1934. Camillidae. In Lindner, E. ''Die Fliegen der Paläarktischen Region'', Band VI/1: 1-7, Textfig. 1-8, Stuttgart. *Papp, L. 1985. A key of the World species of Camillidae (Diptera). Acta zoologica hungarica 31: 217-227. * A.A. Stackelberg Family Camillidae in Bei-Bienko, G. Ya, 1988 ''Keys to the insects of the European Part of the USSR'' Volume 5 (Diptera) Part 2 English edition.

Phylogeny

References

External links

Insects of Britain and Ireland: the families of Diptera
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3651438 Brachycera families