Chloropidae
| Chloropidae | ||||||||||||||
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 possibly Cetema cereris
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| Diversity | ||||||||||||||
| more than 160 genera | ||||||||||||||
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see text. |
Chloropidae 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 are called eye gnats for their habit of being attracted to eyes.
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.
Family characteristics
See [1]
Species Lists
Literature
Identification
Andersson, H., 1977 Taxonomic and phylogenetic studies on Chloropidae (Diptera) with species reference to Old World genera. Entom. Scand. Suppl. 8: 1-200 Keys most Old World genera.
Becker, T., 1910 Chloropidae. Eine monographische Studie. Archivum Zoologicum Budapest 1:23-174 Keys genera and species of world fauna.
Image Gallery
Images from Diptera.info [2] Images from BugGuide [3]
External Links
Mass occurrences of Thaumatomyia notata (Narchuk)
References
- Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
- Fossil Diptera catalog
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