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Arthropoda:
Diptera CHLOROPIDAE (Contact) Please
CLICK on underlined
links to view: Chloropidae. -- (Oscinidae) -- <Habits>; <Adults> & <Juveniles> -- The chloropids and eye gnats are small shiny black or
yellow and black. They occur commonly
in meadows and grassy places. They
feed on grass stems and thus can be pestiferous on cereal crops. Some species are also scavengers and a few
are predators or parasites.
The genus Hippelates has
members that breed in decaying vegetation and animal dung and are strongly
attracted to human and animal secretions.
They have been noted to vector yaws and pinkeye diseases of
humans. Considerable research has
been done in California to combat this group of chloropids, either
culturally, chemically or biologically (see ch-20.htm) Chloropids are usually phytophagous in habit, with
several species being important crop pests.
However, some species such as Siphonella
palposa Fall, are predaceous,
developing in the egg capsules of Stauroderus
in Russia. Siphonella oscinina
Fall. develops in egg sacs of spiders.
Pseudogaurax signata L. (= Gaurax araneae
Coq.) is a predator in the egg sacs of the black widow spider, Latrodectes mactans F. (Jenks 1936).
The latter lays spindle shaped eggs on the outer surface of the
spider's egg sac; and after hatching in 2-3 days, the young larvae burrow
through the covering to feed on the eggs.
After consuming the eggs over a period of ca. 2 days, they pupate in
the same area. This is a family of flies commonly known as frit flies or grass flies. There are approximately
2000 described species in over 160 genera distributed worldwide. These are
usually very small flies, yellow or black and appearing shiny due to the
virtual absence of any hairs. The majority of the larvae are phytophagous,
mainly on grasses, and can be major pests of cereals. However, parasitic and
predatory species are known. A few species are kleptoparasites. Some species
in the genus Hippelates and Siphunculina (S. funicola being quite well known in Asia) are called eye gnats or eye flies for their habit of being attracted to eyes. They feed
on lachrymal secretions and other body fluids of various animals including
humans. There are scant records of chloropids from amber
deposits, mostly from the Eocene and Oligocene periods although some material
may suggest that the group dates back to the Cretaceous or earlier. Chloropisca glabra Meig.
is a predator of the sugar beet root aphid, Pemphigus
betae Doane, and has been
considered to be the most effective natural enemy of this pest (Parker
1918). Hundreds of individuals are
found on a single infested plant. The
female crawls down the base of the plant to insert her ovipositor by a
backward thrust into a soil crevice, where the eggs are laid. Aphids in the habitat provide the
oviposition stimulus because no eggs are found on uninfested plants. Eggs hatch in 3-5 days, and each larva
consumes up to 50 mature aphids during a 9-12 day development period. They remain as pupae for ca. 9 months,
although some individuals emerge in 2-3 weeks, producing a partial 2nd
generation. Anatrichus erinaceus Loew is predaceous on larger larvae of the rice
borer, Schoenobius incertellus Wlk. in Taiwan (Clausen
1940/62). Behavior varies among the wholly phytophagous,
scavenger and predaceous species.
Larvae of Pseudogaurax anchora Lw. and others of that genus
feed on cast skins of Hemerocampa,
while those of Botanobia darlingtoniae Jones feed on dead insects
in pitcher plants. Other species in
several genera have been found in the burrows of other insects where their
roles were undetermined (Clausen 1940/62). = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
= = = = = = = Key
References: <medvet.ref.htm> <Hexapoda> [Additional references may be found at: MELVYL Library] Andersson, H., 1977.
Taxonomic & phylogenetic studies on Chloropidae (Diptera) with species
reference to Old World genera. Ent. Scand. Sup. 8: 1-200 Becker, T. 1910.
Chloropidae. Eine monographische Studie. Archivum Zoologicum
Budapest 1:23-174 Keys genera and species of world fauna. Bigham JT. 1941. Hippelates
(eye gnats) investigations in the southeastern states. Journal of Economic
Entomology 34: 439-444. Clausen, C. P. 1940/1962. Entomophagous Insects. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., NY. &
London. 688 p. [Reprinted 1962 by Hafner Publ. Co.]. Dow RP & J. D.
Hines. 1957. Conjunctivitis in southwest Georgia. Public Heath Reports 72:
441-448. Dow RP, Bigham JT, Sabrosky CW. 1951. Sequel to
"Hippelates (eye gnat) investigations in the
southeastern states" by John T. Bigham. Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. 53: 263-271. Duda, O.
1933-1935. Chloropidae. In Lindner Die Fliegen der
paläarktischen Region (the Flies of the Palaearctic Region).4, 68,1-278. Goddard J. 2007. Non-biting Flies. pp. 191-200. In
Physicians Guide to Arthropods of Medical Importance, 5th
edition. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 480 pp. Hall Jr., D.
G. 1932. Some studies on the breeding media, development, & stages of the
eye gnat Hippelates pusio Loew (Diptera: Chloropidae). Amer J. Epidemiol.16: 854-864. Herms, W.B, Burgess, R.W. 1930. A description of the
immature stages of Hippelates pusio Loew
& a brief account of its life history.
J. Econ. Ent. 23: 600-603. Kumm, H.W, Turner TB.
1936. The transmission of yaws from man to rabbits by an insect vector, Hippelates
pallipes Loew. Amer. J. Trop. Med. 16: 1-16 Kumm, H.W. 1935. The natural infection of Hippelates
pallipes Loew with the spirochete of yaws. Roy. Soc. Trop. Med. & Hyg. 29: 265-272. Matheson, R. 1950. Medical Entomology. Comstock Publ. Co, Inc. 610 p. Mulla, M. S.
1962. The breeding niches of Hippelates
gnats. Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer. 55: 389-393. Mullen,
G. R. & L A. Durden. 2009. Medical & Veterinary Entomology. Academic Press. Sabrosky, C. W. 1941.
The Hippelates flies or eye gnats: preliminary notes. Canadian
Entomologist 73: 23-27. Sabrosky, C. W.
1987. Chloropidae. pp. 1049-1067. In McAlpine J. F., et
al. Manual of Nearctic. Diptera. Vol. 2..Res. Br. Agr.. Can. Mon. 28:
675-1332. Sanders, D.A. 1940. Hippelates flies as vectors of
bovine mastitis (preliminary report). J. Amer. Veterinary Medical Association
97: 306-308. Service, M. 2008.
Medical Entomology For Students.
Cambridge Univ. Press. 289 p Legner, E.
F.
1995. Biological
control of Diptera of medical and veterinary importance. J. Vector Ecology 20(1): 59-120. Legner, E. F. 2000.
Biological control of aquatic Diptera. p. 847-870.
Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera, Vol. 1, Science Herald, Budapest. 978 p. Narchuk, E. P., E.S. Smirnov & L.I. Fedoseeva. Family Chloropidae, IN: Bei-Bienko, G. Ya. 1988. Keys to the insects of the
European Part of the USSR Vol. 5 (Diptera). Part 2 English Taplin D, N. Zaias
& G. Rebell. 1967. Infection by Hippelates
flies. Lancet 2: 472. Tondella. M. L.
C., C. H. Paganelli, I. M. Bortoloho, O. A. Tankano, K. Trino, & M. C. C.
Brandileone. 1994. Isolamento de Harmophilus aegyptius associado a
febre purpurica Brasileira de cloropideos (Diptera) dos generous Hippelates
e Liohippelates. Revista do Instituto de Medicina
Tropical
de São Paulo 36: 105-109. Uruyakorn,
Chansang & Mir S. Mulla. 2008. Field
Evaluation of Repellents and Insecticidal Aerosol Compositions for Repelling
and Control of Siphunculina
funicola (Diptera: Chloropidae) on Aggregation Sites in Thailand.
Journal of the Amer. Mosquito Control Association 24(2):299-307 |
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