Ephydridae (shore fly, sometimes brine fly) is a family of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...

s in the order

Diptera 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 ...

. Shore flies are tiny flies that can be found near seashores or at smaller inland waters, such as ponds. About 2,000 species have been described worldwide, including Ochthera. The petroleum fly, ''Helaeomyia petrolei'', is the only known insect whose larvae live in naturally occurring

crude petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

. Another notable species is ''

Ephydra hians ''Ephydra hians'', commonly known as the alkali fly, is a species of fly in the family Ephydridae, the brine flies. Description The body of the adult is dark brown, and roughly in length. The thorax reflects a metallic greenish or bluish color, ...

'' which lives in vast number at

Mono Lake Mono Lake ( ) is a saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake which make its water a ...

Description

For terms, see

Morphology of Diptera Dipteran morphology differs in some significant ways from the broader morphology of insects. The Diptera is a very large and diverse order of mostly small to medium-sized insects. They have prominent compound eyes on a mobile head, and (at most) ...

. The flies are minute to small (0.9 to 7.0 mm), with black or gray colorations. Wings are sometimes patterned. Costa with two interruptions are present in first section, near the humeral cross-vein and again near the end of vein 1. The second basal cell is not separated from the discal cell. Arista are bare or with hairs on the upper side (plumose on the upper side). The mouth opening is very large in some species. The ratio of vertical diameter of eye and height of gena (face index) is widely used in identification of individual species.

Larvae

In the tribe Notiphilini the head is reduced to a cephalic skeleton, there are no anterior spiracles and the posterior spiracles are extended as spines. The other taxa 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. ...

e similar to the

Sciomyzidae The family Sciomyzidae belongs to the typical flies (Brachycera) of the order Diptera. They are commonly called marsh flies, and in some cases snail-killing flies due to the food of their larvae. Here, the Huttoninidae, Phaeomyiidae and Tetan ...

, with the posterior spiracles at the apices of divergent branches from a common base. They may be differentiated by short thoracic segments (like the abdominal ones) and by the absence of a ventral arch linking the mouth hooks.

Identification

*Andersson, H. (1971), The European species of ''Limnellia'' (Dipt., Ephydridae). ''Entomologica Scandinavica'' 2: 53–59.Key to European species. * Becker, T. (1926), Ephydridae. 56a. In: Lindner, E. (Ed.). ''Die Fliegen der Paläarktischen Region'' 6: 1–115. Keys to Palaearctic species but now needs revision (in German). *Canzoneri, S. & Meneghini, D. (1983), Ephydridae e Canaceidae. ''Fauna d’Italia'' XX.Revision of the Italian species for these two families (in Italian). *Mathis, W.N. & Zatwarnicki, T. (1990), A revision of the western Palaearctic species of Athyroglossa (Diptera: Ephydridae). ''Transactions of the American Entomological Society'' 116: 103–133. Revision of the West Palaearctic species of the genus. *E.P. Narchuk Family Ephydridae in Bei-Bienko, G. Ya, 1988 ''Keys to the insects of the European Part of the USSR'' Volume 5 (Diptera) Part 2 English edition. *Zatwarnicki, T. (1997), Ephydridae. In: Nilsson, A. (Ed.) ''Aquatic Insects of North Europe'' (''A Taxonomic Handbook''). Apollo Books, Stenstrup, Denmark. Includes a key (in English) to the genera.

Habitats

Ephydridae occupy a diverse array of seashore and wetland habitats including hot springs, petroleum pools, salt pools, alkaline lakes, marshes. Imago are phytophagous, sometimes feeding on microscopic algae and bacteria (''Paracoenia'', ''Ephydra''), or predatory (''Ochthera'', Ephydrinae). As larvae, many are phytophagous, grazing on aquatic plants (including cultivated rice), others are algal grazers or saprophagous. Larvae of ''Trimerina'' are predatory. Some species are an important food source for other animals. Others cause damage to agricultural crops.Louis S. Hesler 1995 Bibliography on Hydrellia griseola Fallen (Diptera: Ephydridae) and review of its biology and pest statu
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln
/ref> Larvae of some Ephydridae live in very unusual habitats. For example, ''Ephydra brucei'' lives in hot springs and geysers where the water temperature exceeds 45 degrees Celsius; some ''Scatella'' live in hot sulphur springs; ''Helaeomyia petrolei'' develops in pools of crude oil; and ''Ephydra cinerea'', the brine fly proper, in pools with very high concentrations of salt. Some have public health significance being associated with sewage filter beds and septic tanks. Flies develop in moist soils or mine leaves of aquatic, subaquatic, and rarely dry soil (''Hydrellia'') plants. Flies are found near water along coasts, among aquatic vegetation and sometimes on water surfaces (''Ephydra'').

Species lists

Western Palaearctic Japan

Phylogeny

References

External links

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