Woodlouse flies
| Woodlouse flies | ||||||||||||
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| Rhinophoridae | ||||||||||||
| Robineau-Desvoidy , 1863 |
The woodlice flies (Rhinophoridae) are a small family of flies that is closely related to the caterpillar flies . Their larvae are parasites of woodlice (Isopoda).
description
They are small to medium-sized (2–11 mm), more or less stocky flies, mostly gray-black in color, sometimes with yellowish discoloration in some places. They are never shiny metallic. The thorax and abdomen are covered with strong bristles. Overall, they look like caterpillar flies . In contrast to these, their post-cutellum (cf. body structure of caterpillar flies ) is largely reduced.
Another distinguishing feature is the arista (antennae bristle), which is briefly hairy in the Rhinophoridae. The second antenna segment is clearly furrowed. The ptilinal suture is well developed.
The wing cell R 5 , a large cell between the last radius and the median vein, is striking in the veining of the wings . The median vein has a kink and ends, in most species far before the wing edge, in the radius. This closes the wing cell and gives it a triangular shape.
There is a calypter under the hind wings, but it is narrower than that of the caterpillar flies.
biology
Nothing is known about the biology of most of the species in the family, even more common species.
Those species of which the way of life is known parasitize almost always on woodlice living on land, some allegedly also on beetles and spiders. Information according to which snails also occur as host animals mostly refer to the genera Angioneura and Melanomyia , which are now mostly included in the blowfly family .
The adult females lay their eggs near colonies of woodlice. The larvae, which hatch after a few days and are viable for one to two weeks without a host, look for their own host independently, although they do not seem to be particularly species-specific. They then bore into the host, leaving the posterior stigmas at the opening to ensure oxygen supply. Only one larva lives in each host.
In Central Europe, the larvae overwinter in the second larval stage in the living host. In spring the flies then complete their development with the 3rd larval stage and the host is killed.
distribution
The family reaches the greatest diversity in the Mediterranean region and in Africa . Some species can also be found in Europe , the rest of Asia, and North America.
You can find the flies wherever there are woodlice, especially in forests.
Systematics
The woodlouse flies in the broader sense comprise more than 150 species, most of which are common in the Mediterranean and southern Africa. There are 11 species in Germany.
Central European genera
- Anthracomyia
- Chaetostevenia
- Cirillia
- Frauenfeldia
- Melanophora
- Metopisena
- Oplisa
- Parafeburia
- Paykullia
- Phyto
- Rhinomorinia
- Rhinophora
- Stevenia
- Styloneuria
- Tricogena
Sources and web links
literature
- J. Haupt, H. Haupt: Flies and mosquitoes - observation, way of life. Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-278-4 .
- T. Zeegers, M. van Veen: Pissebedviegen (Rhinophoridae) in Netherlands: een voorlopig overzicht. In: De Viegenmepper. 2 (2), 1993, pp. 1-10. ( Pissebedviegen (Rhinophoridae) in Nederland: een voorlopig overzicht ( Memento of March 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ))
- T. Pape: Family Rhinophoridae. In: L. Papp, B. Darvas (Eds.): Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera. Volume 3, Science Herald, Budapest 1998, ISBN 963-04-8838-8 , pp. 679-689. (English)
Web links
- British Insects: the Families of Diptera - Rhinophoridae
- Parasitoide Online - Rhinophoridae ( Memento from October 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Checklist of UK Recorded Rhinophoridae ( Memento from May 16, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- Fauna Europaea - Rhinophoridae
- Rhinophorids - when a tachinid isn't a tachinid. ( Memento from July 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
