The Heleomyzidae is a small family of true flies in the

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 ...

order Diptera. Over 740 described

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 appropriate s ...

of Heleomyzidae occur in about 76 generaPape, Thomas, Vladimir Blagoderov, and Michail B. Mostovski. "Order Diptera Linnaeus, 1758." Animal Biodiversity. Magnolia Press, 2011. distributed throughout the world.

Description

Heleomyzids are small to medium-sized flies which vary in colour from yellow to reddish yellow or reddish brown to black. The

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

often have small but distinctly longer, well-spaced spines mixed with the shorter spines along the leading edge and the crossveins are often clouded.

Taxonomy

Over 740 described

of Heleomyzidae occur in about 76 genera and 22 tribes distributed throughout the world; the greatest number occur in the

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

region. Around 100 species of Heleomyzidae are found in North America. Most of the subfamilies have been commonly recognized as families in the past, but are now included within the Heleomyzidae. The composition and monophyly of the family continues to be controversial. McAlpineMcAlpine, David K. "Review of the Borboroidini or Wombat Flies (Diptera: Heteromyzidae), with reconsider-ation of the status of families Heleomyzidae and Sphaeroceridae, and descriptions of femoral gland-baskets." RECORDS-AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM 59.2/3 (2007): 143 recently combined Heleomyzidae and

Sphaeroceridae Sphaeroceridae are a family of true flies in the order Diptera, often called small dung flies, lesser dung flies or lesser corpse flies due to their saprophagous habits. They belong to the typical fly suborder Brachycera as can be seen by their ...

into Heteromyzidae, but this arrangement has not been widely accepted.

Ecology

Adults of '' Borboroides'' and '' Heleomicra'' are attracted to carcasses and

faeces Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...

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 feed on decaying plant and animal matter, mushrooms, and various

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

. The larvae of the Holarctic Suilliinae and '' Tapeigaster'' occur principally in fungi. Larvae of '' Cairnsimyia'' live in borer tunnels in trees.

References

External links

Family description and figures
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Identification resources

Palaearctic

* Czerny, L., 1924. Monographie der Helomyziden. ''Abhandlung der Zoologischen-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien'', 15(1): 1–166. Keys genera and species. * Czerny, L., 1937. Ergänzungen zu meiner Monographie der Helomyziden. X. ''Konowia'', 16(2): 137–142. * Gorodkov, K.B., 1984. Family Heleomyzidae (Helomyzidae), 15–45.In: Soós Á. and L. Papp, (eds.), Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera, vol.10, Budapest. * Papp, T.,1978. Some cavernicolous Diptera of the Geneva Museum. ''Revue Suisse de Zoologie'' 85: 99-106. * Papp, T., 1998. Heleomyzidae. Chapter 3.41, 439–455. In: Papp L. and B. Darvas, (eds.), ''Contribution to a manual of Palaearctic Diptera''. Vol. 3. 1998. Science Herald, Budapest, 880 pp.

United Kingdom

* Collin, J.E. 1943b. The British species of Helomyzidae (Diptera). Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 79: 234–251.

Nearctic

* Gill, G.D., 1962. The Heleomyzid flies of America north of Mexico(Diptera: Heleomyzidae). ''Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum'', 113(3465): 495–603. Keys genera and species. * Gill, G.D and B.V. Peterson, 1987.1989. Heleomyzidae, 973–980. In:McAlpine J. F., (ed.), ''Manual of Nearctic Diptera'' Vol. 2, Research Branch Agric. Canada, Monograph no. 28, IV + 675–1332. Keys genera and species.

Australasia

* McAlpine, D.K., 1985. The Australian genera of Heleomyzidae (Diptera: Schizophora) and a reclassification of the family into tribes. ''Records of the Australian Museum'', 36: 203–251.

Taxonomic lists

World list

The European subfamilies, tribes, genera and species - ''Fauna Europaea''

West Palaearctic including Russia

Japan
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2233992 Brachycera families Articles containing video clips