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Genus Anthomyia

Fly - Anthomyia oculifera - male Anthomyia? - Anthomyia illocata - female anthomyiid - Anthomyia oculifera - female Root-Maggot Fly - Anthomyia oculifera - female Zebra fly - - Anthomyia illocata - female Diptera - Anthomyia oculifera - male Fly 5-7mm - Anthomyia oculifera - male A. oculifera 1 - Anthomyia oculifera - female
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon (Calyptratae)
Superfamily Muscoidea
Family Anthomyiidae (Root-Maggot Flies)
Genus Anthomyia
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Anthomyia Meigen 1803
Craspedochaeta
Chelisia
Explanation of Names
Anthomyia Meigen 1803
'flower fly' (from habit of feeding on nectar/pollen)
Numbers
Griffiths(1) recognized 23 species, most of them newly described.
Identification
Species near A. pluvialis can be distinguished from other Anthomyiidae (but not all Muscidae) by the strongly contrasting black and white pattern on the thorax with two spots at front and three spots often fused into a band in the middle.
Some species have dark markings over the crossveins, with two North American species close to the neotropical A. punctipennis having the markings over the distal crossvein split into two spots (unique in North American Anthomyiidae).
Range
Worldwide, including arctic
Habitat
Larvae of some species live in bird nests.
Food
Larval diets include vertebrate feces, decomposing fungi, and tent caterpillar debris. "The adults visit flowers like most other anthomyiids (presumably in order to feed on necatar), but must also feed on decomposing material such as faeces according to their gut contents."(1)
Print References
Ackland D.M. (1987) The genus Anthomyia in the Oriental region (Diptera: Anthomyiidae). Insecta matsumurana 36:39-60 (PDF)
Ackland D.M. (2001) Revision of afrotropical Anthomyia Meigen, 1803 (Diptera: Anthomyiidae), with descriptions of ten new species. African Invertebrates 42: 1-94. (Full text)