Phorid fly
From Freepedia
| Phorid fly | ||||||||||||
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| Image:Phorid fly2.jpg A phorid fly, showing the humped back that is characteristic of the family | ||||||||||||
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Approximately 230 genera and 3000 species |
A phorid fly is a small, hump-backed fly of the highly diverse family Phoridae, and resembling a fruit fly in appearance. Phorid flies can often be identified by their escape habit of running rapidly across a surface rather than taking to the wing. This behaviour is a source of one of their alternate names: scuttle fly.
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Appearance
Phorid flies are about 1/64 – 1/4 inch (0.5 mm – 6 mm) in length. When viewed from the side, there is a pronounced hump to the thorax. The color ranges from black, brown to yellowish.
Environment
Phorid flies are found worldwide, though the greatest variety of species is to be found in the tropics. They are frequently found around flowers and moist decaying matter, although they can be found throughout the house. Several species have the common name of the coffin fly, because they breed in human corpses. The larvae breed in a numerous variety of locations, such as dung, fungi, decaying plant matter or drain pipes.
Most commonly they feed on decaying organic matter. Because they frequent unsanitary places they may transport various disease-causing organisms to food material.
Life cycle
Phorid flies develop from an egg, and via larval, and pupal stages before emerging as an adult. The female lays between 1 to tiny 100 eggs at a time in or on the larval food. She can lay up to 750 eggs in her lifetime. The time it takes from egg to adult vary on the species, but the average is about 25 days.
The larvae emerge in 24 hours and feed for a period of between 8 and 16 days, before crawling to a drier spot to pupate. The phorid fly's egg-to-adult life cycle can be as short as 14 days but may take up to 37 days.
Potential for fire ant control
Phorid flies also represent a new and hopeful means by which to control fire ant populations in the southern United States. The genus Apocephalus, or ant-decapitating fly, of which 110 species have been documented, is a parasite of the ant in South America. Members of Apocephalus reproduce by laying eggs in the head of the ant. The larvae eat the contents of the fire ant's head and emerge several days later.
External links
Entomology Section, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County]
References
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