''Pherbellia'' is a genus of flies in the family Sciomyzidae, the marsh flies or snail-killing flies. They occur throughout the world, except for the Subantarctic region. Like many Sciomyzidae, species of this genus have

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. The ...

e that are predators or

parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

s of

snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...

s. The larva of ''P. albovaria'', for example, eats

land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as ...

s such as ''

Anguispira alternata ''Anguispira alternata'', common name the flamed disc or flamed tigersnail, is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Discidae, the disk snails. Flamed discs are medium-sized snails, with s ...

'' and '' A. fergusoni'', and then pupates in the empty shell. The ''P. albocostata'' larva eats up to five snails and then pupates in the ground litter next to the last empty shell. The larva of ''P. inflexa'' attacks the glass snail ''

Zonitoides arboreus ''Zonitoides arboreus'', commonly known as the quick gloss snail, is a species of small air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Gastrodontidae. Distribution The native distribution of ''Z. arboreus'' ...

''. ''P. punctata'' is a parasitoid on the amber snail '' Succinea putris''. ''P. anubis'' larvae feed on several types of

freshwater snail Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks which live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs ...

s along the edges of ponds and

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es. Several ''Pherbellia'' are predators of the pond snail ''

Stagnicola palustris ''Stagnicola palustris'' is a species of air-breathing freshwater snail, an aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Lymnaeidae, the pond snails. Taxonomy ''Stagnicola turricula'' is a synonym of ''Stagnicola palustris'', because t ...

''. While most snail-killing flies target land and freshwater pulmonate snails, ''P. prefixa'' preys on the mossy valvata (''Valvata sincera''), which is an operculate snail in the valve snail family. As of 2012 there were about 95 species in the genus.

Species

Species in this genus include:''Pherbellia''.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). *Subgenus '' Chetocera''

Robineau-Desvoidy André Jean Baptiste Robineau-Desvoidy (1 January 1799 in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye – 25 June 1857 in Paris) was a French physician and entomologist specialising in the study of Diptera (flies) and to some extent of the Coleoptera (beetles). Ach ...

, 1830 :*'' P. albicarpa'' ( Rondani, 1868) :*'' P. albocostata'' ( Fallén, 1820) :*'' P. albovaria'' (

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 ...

, 1901) :*'' P. alpina'' (

Frey Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, and weather. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especially associated with Sweden and ...

, 1930) :*'' P. annulipes'' (

Zetterstedt Johan Wilhelm Zetterstedt (20 May 1785 – 23 December 1874) was a Sweden, Swedish Naturalism (philosophy) , naturalist who worked mainly on Diptera and Hymenoptera. Biography Zetterstedt studied at the Lund University, University of Lund, where ...

, 1846) :*'' P. anubis'' Knutson, 1969 :*'' P. argyrotarsis'' (

Becker Becker () is one of the German-language surnames, along with Bäcker and Baecker, that derive from the root, which refers to baking. The surname began as a name for a baker (and thus his family). In northern Germany it can also derive from the ...

, 1908) :*'' P. austera'' ( Meigen, 1830) :*'' P. czernyi'' ( Hendel, 1902) :*'' P. dorsata'' (

, 1846) :*'' P. dubia'' ( Fallén, 1820) :*'' P. fisheri'' Orth, 1987 :*'' P. footei'' Steyskal, 1961 :*'' P. griseicollis'' (

, 1900) :*'' P. griseola'' ( Fallén, 1820) :*'' P. hackmani'' Rozkosny, 1982 :*'' P. hermonensis'' Knutson & Freidberg, 1983 :*'' P. idahoensis'' Steyskal, 1961 :*'' P. inclusa'' ( Wollaston, 1858) :*'' P. melanderi'' Steyskal, 1963 :*'' P. nana'' ( Fallén, 1820) :*'' P. obscura'' (Ringdahl, 1948) :*'' P. obtusa'' ( Fallén, 1820) :*'' P. oregona'' Steyskal, 1961 :*'' P. pallidiventris'' ( Fallén, 1820) :*'' P. pilosa'' ( Hendel, 1902) :*'' P. priscillae'' Knutson & Freidberg, 1983 :*'' P. quadrata'' Steyskal, 1961 :*'' P. rozkosnyi'' Verbeke, 1967 :*'' P. scutellaris'' (von Roser, 1840) :*'' P. seticoxa'' Steyskal, 1961 :*'' P. similis'' (Cresson, 1920) :*'' P. sordida'' ( Hendel, 1902) :*'' P. steyskali'' Rozkosny & Zuska, 1965 :*'' P. subtilis'' Orth & Steyskal, 1980 :*'' P. suspecta'' Orth & Steyskal, 1981 :*'' P. vitalis'' (Cresson, 1920) :*'' P. ventralis'' ( Fallén, 1820) *Subgenus '' Dictyomyza'' Enderlein, 1939 :*'' P. clathrata'' ( Loew, 1874) *Subgenus '' Ditaenia'' Hendel, 1902 :*'' P. cinerella'' ( Fallén, 1820) *Subgenus '' Graphomyzina'' Macquart, 1835 :*'' P. cingulata'' (Verbeke, 1950) :*'' P. costata'' (Verbeke, 1950) :*'' P. dives'' ( Bezzi, 1928) :*'' P. guttata'' (

, 1901) :*'' P. javana'' Meijere, 1911 :*'' P. juxtajavana'' Knutson, Manguin & Orth, 1990 :*'' P. kivuana'' (Verbeke, 1950) :*'' P. limbata'' ( Meigen, 1830) :*'' P. trabeculata'' ( Loew, 1872) *Subgenus '' Oxytaenia'' Sack, 1939 :*'' P. beatricis'' Steyskal, 1949 :*'' P. borea'' Orth, 1982 :*'' P. brunnipes'' ( Meigen, 1838) :*'' P. bryanti'' Steyskal, 1967 :*'' P. californica'' Orth, 1982 :*'' P. knutsoni'' Verbeke, 1967 :*'' P. marthae'' Orth, 1982 :*'' P. mikiana'' ( Hendel, 1900) :*'' P. pallidicarpa'' ( Rondani, 1868) :*'' P. paludum'' Orth, 1982 :*'' P. prefixa'' Steyskal, 1967 :*'' P. propages'' Steyskal, 1967 :*'' P. stackelbergi'' Elberg, 1965 :*'' P. ursilacus'' Orth, 1982 *Subgenus ''

Pherbellia ''Pherbellia'' is a genus of flies in the family Sciomyzidae, the marsh flies or snail-killing flies. They occur throughout the world, except for the Subantarctic region. Like many Sciomyzidae, species of this genus have larvae that are predator ...

, 1830 :*'' P. schoenherri'' ( Fallén, 1826) *unplaced :*'' P. aloea'' Orth, 1983 :*'' P. argyra'' Verbeke, 1967 :*'' P. brevistriata'' Li, Yang & Gu, 2001 :*'' P. causta'' Hendel, 1913 :*'' P. chiloesis'' ( Malloch, 1933) :*'' P. dentata'' Merz & Rozkosny, 1995 :*'' P. ditoma'' Steyskal, 1956 :*'' P. evittata'' ( Malloch, 1933) :*'' P. frohnei'' Steyskal, 1963 :*'' P. garganica'' Rivosecchi, 1989 :*'' P. goberti'' ( Pandellé, 1902) :*'' P. guttipennis'' Hendel, 1932 :*'' P. inflexa'' Orth, 1983 :*'' P. koreana'' Rozkosny & Kozanek, 1989 :*'' P. krivosheinae'' Rozkosny & Knutson, 1991 :*'' P. kugleri'' Knutson, 1986 :*'' P. luctifera'' ( Loew, 1861) :*'' P. lutheri'' Rozkosny, 1982 :*'' P. majuscula'' ( Rondani, 1868) :*'' P. orientalis'' Rozkosny & Knutson, 1991 :*'' P. ozerovi'' Rozkosny, 1991 :*'' P. phela'' Steyskal, 1963 :*'' P. philippii'' ( Malloch, 1933) :*'' P. shatalkini'' Rozkosny, 1991 :*'' P. silana'' Rivosecchi, 1989 :*'' P. spectabilis'' Orth, 1984 :*'' P. tenuipes'' ( Loew, 1872) :*'' P. terminalis'' ( Walker, 1858) :*'' P. tricolor'' Sueyoshi, 2001 :*'' P. vittigera'' ( Malloch, 1933)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q14660125 Sciomyzidae Articles containing video clips Sciomyzoidea genera Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Robineau-Desvoidy