Sphaeroceridae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sphaeroceridae

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Superfamily:	Sphaeroceroidea
Family:	Sphaeroceridae

Subfamilies

Copromyzinae
Limosininae
Sphaerocerinae

Sphaeroceridae are flies in the Order Diptera, Section Schizophora, Superfamily Sphaeroceroidea , often called small dung flies.

Sphaeroceridae are a worldwide family of small, usually dull-colored flies.

The larvae are microbial grazers found in abundance wherever there is decomposing organic material. Most species appear to be associated with decaying plants or fungi. Some species, especially cave species , are polysaprophagous. Many species are associated with various kinds of faeces, hence the common name Lesser or Small Dung-flies. There are a few corpse-feeding species. These are extremely abundant and are important components of the carrion-insect community.They are also post mortem interval indicators in forensic entomology. Despite their ubiquity and abundance, little is known about the economic or ecological impact of sphaerocerids.

However

They have been implicated as the major means by which nematodes are disseminated among mushroom houses . They occasionally reach nuisance levels in food-processing plants and other buildings.

As their microbe-associated habits suggest, sphaerocerids carry many pathogenic microorganisms but their reclusive habits preclude a major role in disease transmission but some for this reason present a public health hazard.

One species, Poecilosomella angulata, has been implicated in human intestinal myiasis (Micks & McKibbon 1956).

Sphaerocerids that abound in economically important decomposer communities such as compost and manure, and some decay cycles such as the wrack cycle (seaweed) are mediated by sphaerocerid-dominated insect communities.

Picture of Leptocera limosa (Fallén ,1820) a typical sphaerocerid [1]

[edit] Important Works on Sphaeroceridae

Identification

Oswald Duda,1938. 57. Sphaeroceridae (Cypselidae). In Lindner, E. (ed.): Die Fliegen der palaearktischen Region Vol.6, 182 pp., E. Schweizerbart.sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart.
Scientific papers by Theodor Becker
Pitkin, B. R. (1988). Lesser dung flies. Diptera: Sphaeroceridae. Handbooks for the Identification of British insects 10(5e). London: Royal Entomological Society. ISBN 0-901546-67-4
Richards, 0. W. (1930). The British species of Sphaeroceridae (Borboridae:Diptera). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 18, 261-345.

See also this down-loadable pdf Bibliography [2]

Sphaeroceridae