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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » Calyptratae » Oestroidea » Flesh Flies (Sarcophagidae)

Family Sarcophagidae - Flesh Flies

Classification · Numbers · Identification · Range · Food · Remarks · See Also · Works Cited
Sarcophaga sp? Flesh fly Fly Flesh Fly Flesh Fly - Sarcophaga Odd 9.02.09 01 - Sarcophaga Freshly laid eggs Long Nosed Fly
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon (Calyptratae)
Superfamily Oestroidea
Family Sarcophagidae (Flesh Flies)
Numbers
about 400 spp. in 49 genera in our area, ~2,600 described spp. in 100-400 genera worldwide(1)(2)(3)
3 subfamilies(4): Miltogramminae (=Miltogrammatinae), Paramacronychiinae, Sarcophaginae
Identification
Similar to blowflies, but generally blackish with gray thoracic stripes (never metallic); 3 black racing stripes on a gray background
The subfamilies are defined, both anatomically and biologically, in(4)


Nice pictorial key to some S.Amer. spp. (5)
Range
worldwide and throughout NA(3)(1)
Food
Larvae: many species are necrophagous, but some feed in mammalian tissues or parasitize other arthropods (bees, cicadas, termites, grasshoppers/locusts, millipedes), earthworms, or snails(3). Adults feed on various sugar-containing materials such as nectar, sap, fruit juices and honeydew.
Remarks
comprehensive, up-to-date info is provided in(4)
See Also
Tachinidae, Muscidae, Calliphoridae
Works Cited
1.Manual of Nearctic Diptera Volume 2
By Varies for each chapter; edited by J.F. McAlpine, B.V. Petersen, G.E. Shewell, H.J. Teskey, J.R. Vockeroth, D.M. Wood.
2.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
By Ross H. Arnett
3.Molecular phylogeny of the Calyptratae (Diptera: Cyclorrhapha)...
By S.N. Kutty, T. Pape, B.M. Wiegmann, R. Meier
4.The world of flesh flies (Diptera: Sarcophagidae), by T. Pape, G. Dahlem, C.A. de Mello Patiu, & M. Giroux
5.Pictorial identification key for species of Sarcophagidae (Diptera) of potential forensic importance in southern Brazil
By Vairo, K.P., C.A. de Mello-Patiu & C.J.B. de Carvalho
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, Tony-2, Bbarnd, Chuck Entz, v belov
Last updated 13 May, 2012 - 12:27pm

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