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

Genus Sylvicola

Wood gnat - Sylvicola alternatus Fly - Sylvicola alternatus Sylvicola (subgenus Anisopus) sp - Sylvicola Wood Gnat - Sylvicola alternatus - female New Jersey Diptera for ID - Sylvicola alternatus - male Sylvicola punctatus from Alberta - Sylvicola punctatus - male - female Sylvicola - Sylvicola alternatus Wood Gnat - Sylvicola alternatus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon ("Nematocera" (Non-Brachycera))
Infraorder Bibionomorpha (Gnats, Gall Midges, and March Flies)
Family Anisopodidae (Wood Gnats)
Subfamily Anisopodinae
Genus Sylvicola
Explanation of Names
Sylvicola Harris 1780
'forest dweller'
Numbers
5 spp. in our area(1)
Size
4‒8 mm
Identification
mosquito-like but proboscis shorter than head; thorax humped, with three dark dorsal stripes; wings with dark spots
Range
most of NA(1)
Habitat
larvae in decaying wood/vegetation; adults on foliage or around flowing sap in damp areas; may be attracted to light
Food
decaying plant matter, fermenting sap
Print References
(2)
Works Cited
1.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
2.Notes on Nearctic Sylvicola (Diptera: Anisopodidae)
Pratt, G.K. and H.D. Pratt. 1980. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 82(1): 86-98.