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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » "Aschiza" » Platypezoidea » Scuttle Flies (Phoridae) » Metopininae » Megaselia

Genus Megaselia

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Remarks · Internet References
fly - Megaselia scuttle fly? - Megaselia - female Fruit Fly? - Megaselia rufipes Small orange fly - Megaselia aurea small phorid - Megaselia - female SBBG-SCL-TIC_000742 - Megaselia sphinx Metopininae? - Megaselia perdita Phoridae sp. (?) at blacklight - Megaselia
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon ("Aschiza")
Superfamily Platypezoidea
Family Phoridae (Scuttle Flies)
Subfamily Metopininae
Genus Megaselia
Explanation of Names
Megaselia Rondani 1856
Numbers
~190 described & many undescribed spp. in our area; nearly half (~1,500 spp.) of the world's described Phoridae (and perhaps ten times as many undescribed) belong to this genus
Range
cosmopolitan
Habitat
larvae in moist decaying organic material, sanitation filter beds, sludge in sewer pipes and trash cans in public washrooms and homes, lab cultures of Drosophila, fresh or fermenting fruit, and sometimes in external wounds or in the digestive tract of animals, including humans
Season
year-round indoors
Food
many species are scavengers; some are herbivores, predators, parasites, or parasitoids
Remarks
Larvae of M. scalaris display a unique behavior of swallowing air when exposed to a small pool of liquid. This allows them to float upon immersion, and may prevent drowning in natural environment. (Harrison & Cooper 2003)
Internet References
overview of habits and biology (Christensen 1998)
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 10 January, 2006 - 8:42am
Additional contributions by v belov
Last updated 15 December, 2014 - 1:45pm

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