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

Subfamily Sarcophaginae

Sarc? Fly 13 160621B05 - Rafaelia rufiventris Sarcophagidae? flesh fly - female Florida beach fly 2, poss. Tricharaea (Sarothromyia) spp. Diptera Sarcophaga pleskei from Alberta - Sarcophaga pleskei - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon (Calyptratae)
Superfamily Oestroidea
Family Sarcophagidae (Flesh Flies)
Subfamily Sarcophaginae
Identification
well-defined, monophyletic group, but the taxonomy of subordinate taxa is in flux, and there is great inconsistency among sources(1)
Food
small carrion (dead insects, snails, smaller vertebrates) -- only few species are breeding in larger vertebrate carcases and feces; some are able to develop on decomposing vegetable matter (e.g., melon/tomato pulp); some groups prey on snail, earthworms, spider eggs, turtle eggs; several genera include specialized parasitoids of arthropods (various Orthoptera, tenebrionid beetles, cockroaches, mantids, cicadas, millipedes) or ant/termite nest dwellers(1)
Life Cycle
1. Eggs. 2. Larvae. 3. Puparium