The Schizophora are a

section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

true flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

containing 78 families, which are collectively referred to as muscoids, although technically the term "muscoid" should be limited to flies in the superfamily

Muscoidea Muscoidea is a superfamily of flies in the subsection Calyptratae. Muscoidea, with approximately 7000 described species, is nearly 5% of the known species level diversity of the Diptera, the true flies. Most muscoid flies are saprophagous, coprop ...

; this is an example of informal, historical usage persisting in the vernacular. The section is divided into two subsections, the

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, ...

and

Calyptratae Calyptratae is a subsection of Schizophora in the insect order Diptera, commonly referred to as the calyptrate muscoids (or simply calyptrates). It consists of those flies which possess a calypter that covers the halteres, among which are som ...

, which are commonly referred to as acalyptrate muscoids and calyptrate muscoids, respectively. The defining feature of the Schizophora is the presence of a special structure used to help the emerging adult fly break free of the puparium; this structure is an inflatable membranous sac called the

ptilinum The ptilinum is an eversible pouch on the head, above the base of the antenna in schizophoran flies (a section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, ...

that protrudes from the face, above the antennae. The inflation of the ptilinum (using fluid

hemolymph Hemolymph, or haemolymph, is a fluid, analogous to the blood in vertebrates, that circulates in the interior of the arthropod (invertebrate) body, remaining in direct contact with the animal's tissues. It is composed of a fluid plasma in which ...

rather than air) creates pressure along the line of weakness in the puparium, which then bursts open along the seam to allow the adult to escape. When the adult emerges, the fluid is withdrawn, the ptilinum collapses, and the membrane retracts entirely back inside the head. The large, inverted, "U"-shaped suture in the face through which it came, however, is still quite visible, and the name "Schizophora" ("split-bearers") is derived from this ptilinal or frontal suture. The term was first used by

Eduard Becher Eduard Becher (30 September 1856, Vienna - 11 November 1886, Vienna) was an Austrian entomologist who worked on Diptera. He was the author of an article entitled 'Zur Kenntnis der Kopfbildung der Dipteren' ("Contribution to the knowledge of th ...

. In contrast to eggs of other arthropods, most insect eggs are drought-resistant, because inside the maternal

chorion The chorion is the outermost fetal membrane around the embryo in mammals, birds and reptiles (amniotes). It develops from an outer fold on the surface of the yolk sac, which lies outside the zona pellucida (in mammals), known as the vitell ...

, two additional membranes develop from embryonic tissue, the amnion and the

serosa The serous membrane (or serosa) is a smooth tissue membrane of mesothelium lining the contents and inner walls of body cavities, which secrete serous fluid to allow lubricated sliding movements between opposing surfaces. The serous membrane ...

. This serosa secretes a cuticle rich in

chitin Chitin ( C8 H13 O5 N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is probably the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cellulose); an estimated 1 billion tons of chit ...

that protects the embryo against desiccation. In the Schizophora, however, the serosa does not develop, but these flies lay their eggs in damp places, such as rotting organic matter. The absence of schizophoran flies from

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

rocks implies that they likely rapidly diversified during the

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

, with the first appearance of the group during the early

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

References

External links

Tree of Life SchizophoraJoyce Laing on the ptilinum pdf
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1102504 Protostome unranked clades