Strashilidae is an extinct family of

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

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 ...

from

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. They were originally believed to represent a distinct order called Nakridletia, but subsequent research determined that they were nematoceran flies related to the extant family

Nymphomyiidae The Nymphomyiidae are a family of tiny (2 mm) slender, delicate flies (Diptera). Larvae are found among aquatic mosses in small, rapid streams in northern regions of the world, including northeastern North America, Japan, the Himalayas, and ...

, and two of the species (and genera) in the group were determined to be synonyms. The family now comprises two species in the genus ''Strashila'' and one in the genus ''Vosila''. The original hypothesis was that the insects were wingless and were probably

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 has ...

s of

pterosaur Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to ...

s, mostly due to their enlarged hind legs, which were theorised as useful for grasping hair and feathers; however, additional fossils showed that both sexes had deciduous wings, and that only males had enlarged hind legs, used to grasp the females during mating, and were not parasitic, instead having an aquatic or amphibious life history, as evidenced by the adults retaining of gills, with ephemeral adults that died soon after mating,

References

Jurassic insects Prehistoric arthropod families †Strashilidae Prehistoric Diptera †Strashilidae Middle Jurassic first appearances Late Jurassic extinctions {{Jurassic-insect-stub

See also

References