The Coelopidae or kelp flies are a family of

Acalyptratae The Acalyptratae or Acalyptrata are a subsection of the Schizophora, which are a section of the order Diptera, the "true flies". In various contexts the Acalyptratae also are referred to informally as the acalyptrate muscoids, or acalyptrates, a ...

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 ...

(order Diptera), they are sometimes also called seaweed flies, although both terms are used for a number of seashore Diptera. Fewer than 40

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

occur worldwide. The family is found in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

areas, with species occurring in the southern

Afrotropical The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

, and

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

n (which has the most species) regions.

Family characteristics

Coelopids are small to medium-sized (, usually ), robust flies, predominantly with a flat body and darkly coloured. Coelopidae species are usually densely bristly or hairy. Their eyes are small. The arista is bare to pubescent. Ocelli and ocellar bristles are present. The postvertical bristles are parallel or converge. The two pairs of frontal bristles curve outward and scattered interfrontal setulae are present. Vibrissae are absent, but strong bristles occur near the vibrissal angle. The mesonotum is flat and the prothorax is separated from the propleuron by a membrane. The legs bear strong bristles and soft, dense hairs and the tibiae have subapical bristles. The wing is unmarked. The costa is entire, without interruptions. The subcosta is complete, crossvein BM-Cu is present, and the anal cell (cell cup) is closed. Legs usually densely hairy.

Biology

Coelopids are found in the wrack zone of temperate seashores where the larvae feed on rotting seaweed. They are sometimes very abundant in this habitat. They go through several generations a year. The females lay their eggs in small batches into fresh alga banks. Three larval instars occur. Larvae feed in a

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

-laden mass. Pupation is seldom in the algal substrate that soon collapses, but more frequently in the highest sand layers. Larvae are also found in winter wrack heaps as bacteria raise temperatures to 20-30 °C even if the heap is superficially frozen. Larvae and pupae have numerous predators, including birds and the staphylinid ''Aleochara'' and suites of parasites confined to algal banks.

Classification

, following Mathis and McAlpine's taxonomy, Coelopidae consists of two subfamilies: Coelopinae, with three tribes, twelve genera, and twenty-eight species, and Lopinae, consisting of just one

monospecific In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

genus. *Subfamily Coelopinae Hendel, 1910 **Tribe Coelopini Hendel, 1910 ***Genus '' Coelopa'' Meigen, 1830 ****Subgenus '' Coelopa'' Meigen, 1830 ****Subgenus '' Fucomyia'' Haliday, 1837 ****Subgenus '' Neocoelopa'' Malloch, 1933 **Tribe Coelopellini McAlpine, 1991 ***Genus ''

Amma Amma or AMMA may refer to: Acronym * Amhara Mass Media Agency (created in 1993), a media organisation in Amhara Region in Ethiopia * All Malaysia Malayalee Association * American Mask Manufacturers Association * American Medical Marijuana Assoc ...

'' McAlpine, 1991 ***Genus '' Beaopterus'' Lamb, 1909 ***Genus '' Coelopella'' Malloch, 1933 ***Genus '' Icaridion'' Lamb, 1909 Halteres absent and the wings are reduced to strips. New Zealand. ***Genus '' Rhis'' McAlpine, 1991 ***Genus '' This'' McAlpine, 1991 **Tribe Glumini McAlpine, 1991 ***Genus '' Chaetocoelopa'' Malloch, 1933 ***Genus '' Coelopina'' Malloch, 1933 ***Genus '' Dasycoelopa'' Malloch, 1933 ***Genus '' Gluma'' McAlpine, 1991 ***Genus '' Malacomyia'' Haliday in Westwood, 1840 (sometimes placed in Dryomyzidae *Subfamily Lopinae McAlpine, 1991 **Genus '' Lopa'' McAlpine, 1991

Other

'' Coelopa frigida'' (Fabricius) has been reared in the laboratory and used for genetic studies.

References

External links

Tree of Life Coelopidae

Family Coelopidae at EOL

Diptera.info
Images
BugGuide
images

Image of pupa

Identification

* Hennig. 1937. Coelopidae.In: Lindner, E. (Ed.). ''Die Fliegen der Paläarktischen Region'' 5, 52, 1-38.Keys to Palaearctic species but now needs revision (in German). *Malloch, J.R. 1933. The genus ''Coelopa'' Meigen (Diptera, Coelopidae). ''Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.'' (10) 11: 339–50. *McAlpine, David K. (1991). "Review of the Australian Kelp Flies (Diptera: Coelopidae)" (Print). Systematic Entomology 16: 29–84. * Séguy, E. (1934) ''Diptères: Brachycères''. II. ''Muscidae acalypterae, Scatophagidae''. Paris: Éditions Faune de France 28
virtuelle numérique
*Shtakel'berg, A.A. Family Coelopidae in Bei-Bienko, G. Ya, 1988 ''Keys to the insects of the European Part of the USSR'' Volume 5 (Diptera) Part 2 English edition.Keys to Palaearctic species but now needs revision .

Species lists

West Palaearctic and Russia Japan
{{Authority control Brachycera families