Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Miltogrammatinae (an alternate spelling)
Explanation of Names
Family name from genus
Miltogramma Meigen, 1803. From Greek
miltos(μιλτος)- "red ochre, red" plus Greek
gramma (γραμμα)- "drawn, written" (in this case, lines) (Sabrosky).
Satellite flies: adult females may trail behind potential hosts at a distance of 15-30 cm, often keeping the distance within a very narrow range as though tethered to the wasp (like a satellite is "tethered" to its parent body)
Food
Larvae of most species feed on prey captured and paralyzed by adult digger wasps (Sphecidae, i.e.,
Apoidea as used here); the prey may include arthropods from a variety of families and orders
Life Cycle
kleptoparasites of Digger Wasps (family Sphecidae): female flies lay live larvae on the wasp's prey before it is buried, so the prey becomes food for the fly's larvae instead of the wasp's
in some species, adult female flies larviposit in the entrance of wasp burrows, and the fly larvae wriggle down the burrow in search of food
Internet References
Biology of the Miltogramminae live adult image by K. Szpila, plus many examples of kleptoparasitism strategies and hosts (Thomas Pape, Natural History Museum of Denmark)
brief overview and links to pinned adult images in three genera (John Haarstad, Insects of Cedar Creek, U. of Minnesota)
discussion of subfamily names Miltogramminae and Miltogrammatinae; PDF doc "Family-Group Names in Diptera" (Curtis Sabrosky,
MYIA vol. 10 p. 200, courtesy US Dept. of Agriculture)
classification giving "Miltogramminae" as the valid subfamily name (The Diptera Site, US Dept. of Agriculture)
