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DIPTERA, Stratiomyiidae (Latreille
1802) -- <Images>
& <Juveniles> Description
In this family more than 1,502 species were known as of
2000. They are distributed mainly in
temperate and tropical zones.
Diagnostic characters include variously shaped antennae, usually with
contiguous basal segments and a divergent flagella, the club often with
aristate tip; wings with discal cell (1st M-2) small; branches of M more
slender than those of R; the vein R branches are rather crowded toward costal
margin. The body is small, while the
abdomen is usually as wide as the thorax, and frequently flattened. Immature stages of
Stratiomyiidae are found in many and diverse habitats. Some species are aquatic, feeding on
algae, small Crustacea, etc. Others
live in decaying plant material. A
number of species are scavengers in the nests of insects, and a few are found
beneath the bark of trees, where they feed, at least to some extent, on
insect larvae. Adult stratiomyiids
usually are found on flowers. The
family is not of much importance in biological control (Clausen 1940/62). References: Please refer to <biology.ref.htm>, [Additional
references may be found at: MELVYL
Library ] Clausen, C.
P. 1940.
Entomophagous Insects.
McGraw-Hill Book Co., NY. & London. 688 p. Cole, F. R.
1969. The Flies of Western
North America. Univ. Calif. Press,
Berkeley & Los Angeles. 693 p. James, M. T.
1939.
Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer. 32:
543-8. James, M. T. 1
940. Rev. de Ent. 11: 119-49. Kuster, K.
C. 1934.
Michigan Acad. Sci., Arts, Letters, Papers 19: 605-58. |