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

Family Sarcophagidae - Flesh Flies

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Food · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Sarcophaga sp? Flesh fly? Colorful fly to ID. - Sarcophaga Diptera identification needed... - Sarcophaga Flesh Fly - Sarcophaga ? Flesh Fly Sarcophagid---what species? Flesh Fly
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon (Calyptratae)
Superfamily Oestroidea
Family Sarcophagidae (Flesh Flies)
Explanation of Names
Sarcophagidae is named after the genus Sarcophaga, which gets its name from the Greek for "flesh-eater". See that page for details.
Numbers
about 385 species in 49 genera in North America listed at nearctica.com
3 subfamilies: 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
Range
Widespread
Food
Adults feed on various sugar-containing materials such as nectar, sap, fruit juices and honeydew.
Most larvae feed on some sort of animal material: many are scavengers, feeding on dead animals; some are parasitoids of other insects.
See Also
Tachinidae
Muscidae
Calliphoridae
Print References
(1)
(2)
Internet References
pinned adult images of one or more species in 14 genera (Insects of Cedar Creek, Minnesota)
overview of family and two subfamilies, with some representative genera in each (John Haarstad, Insects of Cedar Creek, Minnesota)
Works Cited
1.Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects
By Norman F. Johnson, Charles A. Triplehorn
2.A Field Guide to Insects
By Richard E. White, Donald J. Borror, Roger Tory Peterson
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, Tony Thomas, Chuck Entz
Last updated 1 February, 2008 - 8:23am

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