A black fly or blackfly is any member of the family Simuliidae of the Culicomorpha infraorder. They are related to the Ceratopogonidae, Chironomidae, and Thaumaleidae. Over 2,200 species of black flies have been formally named, of which 15 are extinct. They are divided into two subfamilies: Parasimuliinae contains only one genus and four species; Simuliinae contains all the rest. Over 1,800 of the species belong to the genus Simulium.
The Nematocera are a suborder of elongated flies with thin, segmented antennae and mostly aquatic larvae. Major families in the suborder include the mosquitoes, crane flies, gnats, black flies, and a group of families described as midges.
The minute black scavenger flies or "dung midges", are a family, Scatopsidae, of nematoceran flies. Despite being distributed throughout the world, they form a small family with only around 250 described species in 27 genera, although many await description and doubtless even more await discovery. These are generally small, sometimes minute, dark flies, generally similar to black flies (Simuliidae), but usually lacking the humped thorax characteristic of that family.
Simulium is a genus of black flies, which may transmit diseases such as onchocerciasis. It is a large genus with several hundred species, and 41 subgenera.
Gigantodax is a genus of 68 species of black flies distributed along the Andes from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego in Argentina.
The Simuliini is a tribe of black flies that contains over 2,000 species, with more than 1,800 in the genus Simulium. There are 19 living genera, and three genera only known from Cretaceous fossils.
Simuliinae is a subfamily of black flies (Simuliidae). It contains over 2,200 species, with over 1,800 of them in the genus Simulium. There are 2 tribes and 25 living genera. A further 5 genera are known only from Cretaceous fossils.
Prosimuliini is a tribe of black flies. It contains over 140 living species, with more than a half of them in the genus Prosimulium. There are 6 living genera, and 2 genera that are only known from Cretaceous fossils.
The Parasimuliinae are a subfamily of Simuliidae containing only one genus and four species. Most species are rare, and some are cave dwellers, in western North America.
Parasimulium is a genus of black flies containing two subgenera and four species. They are found in western North America. Most species are rare, and some Canadian species are cave dwellers.
Cnephia is a genus of 9 species of black flies. They are distributed in scattered locations across the Northern Hemisphere, from Ukraine to Eastern Siberia, and some parts of North America.
Araucnephioides is a genus of black flies from Chile. There is only one known species.
Austrosimulium is a genus of 31 species of black flies that are distributed in Australia and New Zealand. There are 2 subgenera: Austrosimulium whose species are principally from New Zealand, and Novaustrosimulium which are exclusively Australian. Austrosimulium is a sister genus to the monospecific Paraustrosimulium of South America.
Cnesia is a genus of 4 species of black flies. They are distributed in Argentina and Chile.
Ectemnia is a genus of 4 species of black flies. They are distributed in North America.
Smittium is a genus of fungi in the order Harpellales. It is the largest genus in the order. As of 2013, there were 81 described species. Many of these have been formally described only recently; in 1998 there were just 46. Several have been transferred to Smittium from other genera, such as Orphella, Rubetella, Genistella, and Typhella. In general, the genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, but some species are limited to small regions.
Novaustrosimulium is a subgenus of Austrosimulium, a genus made up of black flies. The flies in this subgenus are found exclusively in Australia.
Austrosimulium is a subgenus of Austrosimulium, a genus of Simuliidae. The flies in this subgenre are found mainly in New Zealand, with a few in Australia. They are the only Simuliidae found in New Zealand.
Prosimulium is a genus of black flies. There are at least 110 described species in Prosimulium.
Pedrowygomyia is a genus of neotropical simuliid flies erected in 1998 from the Gigantodax cortesi species group of the 1925 genus Gigantodax after a cladistics analysis of the species groups recognized in the genus indicated that it was paraphyletic. The genus was named in recognition of the contributions to science of entomologist Petr Wolfgang Wygodzinsky. Pedrowygomyia originally comprised four species, P. cortesi, P. jatunchuspi, P. punapi and P. chacabamba, all described in 1989 from high-elevation areas in the Andean region. In 2020, a new species, P. hanaq, was described from the south-central Andes of Peru at an altitude above 4,000 m. Based on the pupal stage, the new species appears to be most closely related to P. punapi, a species known from Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile.
