Family Scathophagidae - Dung Flies

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Habitat · Food · See Also · Works Cited

Scathophagidae - Scathophaga stercoraria

Scathophaga sp.? - Scathophaga stercoraria

Golden fly on scat - Scathophaga stercoraria

Mating Flies - Scathophaga furcata - male - female

Scathophaga Fly - Scathophaga stercoraria

Fly found in the Great Smoky Mountains NP - Scathophaga stercoraria

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Diptera (Flies)

No Taxon (Calyptratae)

Superfamily Muscoidea

Family Scathophagidae (Dung Flies)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

misspelled 'Scatophagidae' in some sources (a taxon with that name is a family of fish)

used to be treated as a subfamily in the Muscidae or Anthomyiidae(1)

Explanation of Names

Scathophagidae Robineau-Desvoidy 1830

Numbers

ca. 150 spp. in almost 40 genera in our area(2), >400 spp. in ~60 genera worldwide(3)(4)

Size

3-11 mm(1)

Identification

Cruciate interfrontal setae absent or reduced to hairs, katepisternum or sternopleuron usually with only one seta on posterior end, but sometimes variable, ventral surface of scutellum bare, costa usually without spinules

Habitat

Some larvae live in dung, others are leaf miners, stem-borers or feed in seed capsules, still others are aquatic predators and predators on other insect larvae in wet situations

Food

Larvae of Delininae mine leaves of Liliaceae, Orchidaceae, and Commelinaceae. Larvae of Scathophaginae have been reported as phytophagous (especially in Scirpus, Juncus, and Pedicularis), predaceous, or coprophagous (as in the common Scathophaga species, although some feed in seaweed). Adults seem to be predaceous.(1)

See Also

Heleomyzidae (esp. Suilla) may look superficially similar

Works Cited

1.	Manual of Nearctic Diptera Volume 2 Varies for each chapter; edited by J.F. McAlpine, B.V. Petersen, G.E. Shewell, H.J. Teskey, J.R. Vockeroth, D.M. Wood. 1987. Research Branch Agriculture Canada.

2.	American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.

3.	USDA Diptera Site (now closed)

4.	Order Diptera Linnaeus, 1758. In: Zhang Z.-Q. (ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification... Pape T., Blagoderov V., Mostovski M.B. 2011. Zootaxa 3148: 222–229.

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Beatriz Moisset, Bbarnd, ceiseman, v belov, Harsi S. Parker, Arturo Santos
Last updated 19 January, 2024 - 5:02pm

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