__NOTOC__ Hippoboscidae, the louse flies or keds, are

obligate parasite An obligate parasite or holoparasite is a parasitic organism that cannot complete its life-cycle without exploiting a suitable host. If an obligate parasite cannot obtain a host it will fail to reproduce. This is opposed to a facultative parasi ...

s of

mammals Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur o ...

and

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

. In this

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

, the winged

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

can fly at least reasonably well, though others with vestigial or no wings are flightless and highly

apomorph In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have ...

ic. As usual in their

superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...

Hippoboscoidea, most of the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

l development takes place within the mother's body, and

pupation A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in thei ...

occurs almost immediately. The sheep ked, '' Melophagus ovinus'', is a wingless, reddish-brown fly that parasitizes

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticate ...

. The Neotropical deer ked, ''

Lipoptena mazamae ''Lipoptena mazamae'', the Neotropical deer ked, is a fly from the family Hippoboscidae. They are blood-feeding parasites of the white-tailed deer - ''Odocoileus virginianus'' in the southeastern United States and Central America, the red brocket ...

'', is a common

ectoparasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

(''Odocoileus virginianus'') in the southeastern United States. Both winged and wingless forms may be seen. A common winged species is ''

Hippobosca equina ''Hippobosca equina'', also known as the forest fly or New Forest fly, is a biting fly from the family Hippoboscidae. They are blood-feeding ectoparasites of primarily horses and other large mammals including cattle. It is a permanently fully wing ...

'', called "the louse fly" among riders. Species in other genera are found on birds; for example, ''

Ornithomya bequaerti ''Ornithomya'' are genus of biting flies in the family of louse flies, Hippoboscidae. There are 29 known species. All species are parasites of birds. Distribution ''Ornithomya'' are found worldwide with the exception of Antarctica, however the ...

'' has been collected from birds in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

. Two species of the Hippoboscidae – '' Ornithoica (Ornithoica) podargi'' and ''

Ornithomya fuscipennis ''Ornithomya'' are genus of biting flies in the family of louse flies, Hippoboscidae. There are 29 known species. All species are parasites of birds. Distribution ''Ornithomya'' are found worldwide with the exception of Antarctica, however the ...

'' are also common parasites of the

tawny frogmouth The tawny frogmouth (''Podargus strigoides'') is a species of frogmouth native to the Australian mainland and Tasmania and found throughout. It is a big-headed, stocky bird, often mistaken for an owl, due to its nocturnal habits and similar colo ...

(''Podargus strigoides'') of Australia. ''

Pseudolynchia canariensis ''Pseudolynchia canariensis'', the pigeon louse fly or pigeon fly, is a species of biting fly in the family of louse flies, Hippoboscidae. Distribution ''Pseudolynchia canariensis'' are species-specific (Columbidae) obligate ectoparasites potent ...

'' is commonly found on

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

s and

dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

s, and can serve as the vector of "pigeon malaria"''. ''Louse flies of birds may transmit other parasites such as those in the genus ''

Plasmodium ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a ve ...

'' or other ''

Haemoproteus ''Haemoproteus'' is a genus of alveolates that are parasitic in birds, reptiles and amphibians. Its name is derived from Greek: ''Haima'', "blood", and ''Proteus'', a sea god who had the power of assuming different shapes. The name ''Haemopr ...

'' parasites. Some evidence indicates that other Hippoboscidae can serve as vectors of disease agents to mammals. For example, a louse fly of the species ''Icosta americana'' was found with

West Nile Virus West Nile virus (WNV) is a single-stranded RNA virus that causes West Nile fever. It is a member of the family '' Flaviviridae'', from the genus '' Flavivirus'', which also contains the Zika virus, dengue virus, and yellow fever virus. The v ...

infection from an

American Kestrel The American kestrel (''Falco sparverius''), also called the sparrow hawk, is the smallest and most common falcon in North America. It has a roughly two-to-one range in size over subspecies and sex, varying in size from about the weight of ...

Systematics

In some obsolete taxonomies, the name Hippoboscidae is applied to the group properly known as Pupipara, i.e. the present family plus the bat flies ( Nycteribiidae and "

Streblidae The Streblidae are a family of flies in the superfamily Hippoboscoidea, and together with their relatives the Nycteribiidae, are known as bat flies. They are winged or wingless ectoparasites of bats, and often have long legs. They appear to be ...

"). They are called pupipara because the females birth live young, one at a time, that are deposited as late stage larvae called a prepuparium that pupate immediately at birth. For the species ''Pseudolynchia canariensis,'' as well as other louse flies, reproduction is energetically expensive. Larvae feed on milk glands within the female fly prior to being deposited. Single offspring (pupae) can weigh more than an unfed emerged adult fly since the pupal casing is included in the pupal weight and teneral flies often put on mass after their first few blood meals. Two of the three traditional subfamilies (

Hippoboscinae Hippoboscinae is a subfamily of the fly family Hippoboscidae. All are parasitic, and unlike some other members of the Hippoboscidae, all Hippoboscinae are winged species. Systematics *Genus '' Hippobosca'' Linnaeus, 1758 :*'' H. camelina'' Leach, ...

and

Lipopteninae Lipopteninae is a subfamily of the fly family Hippoboscidae. All are parasitic. Systematics *Genus '' Lipoptena'' Nitzsch, 1818 :*'' L. arianae'' Maa, 1969 :*'' L. axis'' Maa, 1969 :*'' L. binoculus'' ( Speiser, 1908) :*'' L. capreoli'' Rondani ...

) have been shown to be good

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gr ...

groups at least overall. According to

cladistic Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived char ...

analysis of several

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. T ...

s, to make the

Ornithomyinae Ornithomyinae is a subfamily of the fly family Hippoboscidae. All are blood feeding parasites, for the most part on birds, though some have mammals as hosts. Systematics *Subfamily Ornithomyinae Bigot, 1853 :*Genus '' Allobosca'' Speiser, 1899 ...

monophyletic, their

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...

Olfersini deserves to be recognized as a full family, too. *Subfamily

Bigot Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, rel ...

, 1853 :*Genus '' Allobosca'' Speiser, 1899 (1 species) :*Genus '' Austrolfersia'' Bequaert, 1953 (1 species) :*Genus '' Crataerina'' von Olfers, 1816 (8 species) :*Genus '' Icosta'' Speiser, 1905 (52 species) :*Genus '' Microlynchia'' Lutz, 1915 (4 species) :*Genus '' Myophthiria'' Rondani, 1875 (13 species) :*Genus '' Olfersia''

Leach Leach may refer to: * Leach (surname) * Leach, Oklahoma, an unincorporated community, United States * Leach, Tennessee, an unincorporated community, United States * Leach Highway, Western Australia * Leach orchid * Leach phenotype, a mutatio ...

, 1817 (7 species) :*Genus '' Ornithoctona'' Speiser, 1902 (12 species) :*Genus '' Ornithoica'' Rondani, 1878 (24 species) :*Genus '' Ornithomya'' Latreille, 1802 (29 species) :*Genus '' Ornithophila'' Rondani, 1879 (2 species) :*Genus '' Ortholfersia'' Speiser, 1902 (4 species) :*Genus '' Phthona'' Maa, 1969 (3 species) :*Genus '' Proparabosca'' Theodor & Oldroyd 1965 (1 species) :*Genus '' Pseudolynchia'' Bequaert, 1926 (5 species) :*Genus '' Stilbometopa''

Coquillett Daniel William Coquillett (23 January 1856, Pleasant Valley, Ill. – 7 July 1911 Atlantic City, New Jersey) was an American entomologist who specialised in Diptera. He wrote a revision of the dipterous family Therevidae and many other scientifi ...

, 1899 (5 species) *Subfamily

:*Genus '' Hippobosca''

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologi ...

(7 species) :*Genus ''

Struthibosca ''Struthibosca'' is a genus of biting flies in the family of louse flies, Hippoboscidae. There is only one known species, ''Struthibosca struthionis'' (Janson, 1889). It is a parasite of ostriches. Distribution It is found in entire Souther ...

'' Maa, 1963 (1 species) *Subfamily

:*Genus '' Lipoptena'' Nitzsch, 1818 (30 species) :*Genus '' Melophagus'' Latreille, 1802 (3 species) :*Genus '' Neolipoptena'' Bequaert, 1942 (1 species)

References

External links

*[
Sheep KedPigeon Louse Fly
*
Photograph of A Louse Fly
*Images from Diptera.inf

*Images from BugGuid

''Pseudolychia canariensis'', pigeon louse fly
on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
''Lipoptena mazamae'', Neotropical deer ked
on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site {{Taxonbar, from=Q256346 Brachycera families Parasites of birds Taxa named by George Samouelle

Systematics

See also

References

External links