Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Family Scatopsidae - Minute Black Scavenger Flies

Minute Black Scavenger Flies - Scatopse Scatopsid Thunderstorm Erotica? - male - female Mating Scatopsids - male - female Bugs on bugs? Bugs on bugs? Minute Black Scavenger Fly (Scatopsidae) Minute Black Scavenger Fly
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon ("Nematocera" (Non-Brachycera))
Infraorder Psychodomorpha
Family Scatopsidae (Minute Black Scavenger Flies)
Numbers
Borror and Delong list 76 North American species.
Size
0.6-5 mm
Identification
Veins along wing margin strong, while remaining veins are generally weak. Short antennae.
Season
Summer. May-August (Rhegmoclema hubachecki, Minnesota).
Food
Adults sometimes reported from flowers.
Life Cycle
Larvae feed on decaying organic matter, such as detritus or excrement.
Internet References
Australasian/Oceanian Diptera Catalog--some discussion of life history