Braula coeca | |
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Braula coeca attached to the head of its host, Apis mellifera scutellata . | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Diptera |
Family: | Braulidae |
Genus: | Braula |
Species: | B. coeca |
Binomial name | |
Braula coeca | |
Synonyms | |
Braula coeca, the bee louse, is a species of bee louse in the family Braulidae. [3] [4] [5]
Louse is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a result of developments in phylogenetic research.
Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- di- "two", and πτερόν pteron "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced mechanosensory organs known as halteres, which act as high-speed sensors of rotational movement and allow dipterans to perform advanced aerobatics. Diptera is a large order containing an estimated 1,000,000 species including horse-flies, crane flies, hoverflies and others, although only about 125,000 species have been described.
Anthrax is a genus of bombyliid flies, commonly known as "bee-flies" due to their resemblance to bees. Most are dull black flies, and are usually small to medium in size, 4–20 millimetres (0.2–0.8 in), and many species have striking wing patterns.
Ushant is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and, in medieval terms, Léon. In lower tiers of government, it is a commune in the Finistère department. It is the only place in Brittany, save for Brittany itself, with a separate name in English.
The Acalyptratae or Acalyptrata are a subsection of the Schizophora, which are a section of the order Diptera, the "true flies". In various contexts the Acalyptratae also are referred to informally as the acalyptrate muscoids, or acalyptrates, as opposed to the Calyptratae. All forms of the name refer to the lack of calypters in the members of this subsection of flies. An alternative name, Acalypterae is current, though in minority usage. It was first used by Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart in 1835 for a section of his tribe Muscides; he used it to refer to all acalyptrates plus scathophagids and phorids, but excluding Conopidae.
Hippoboscidae, the louse flies or keds, are obligate parasites of mammals and birds. In this family, the winged species can fly at least reasonably well, though others with vestigial or no wings are flightless and highly apomorphic. As usual in their superfamily Hippoboscoidea, most of the larval development takes place within the mother's body, and pupation occurs almost immediately.
Braulidae, or bee lice, is a family of true flies (Diptera) with seven species in two genera, Braula and Megabraula. They are found in honey bee colonies due to their phoretic, inquiline, and kleptoparasitic relationships with the bees. Similar in appearance but not closely related to keds, these flies are also small, wingless, and occasionally mistaken for mites or lice, hence their common name.
Carnoidea is a superfamily of Acalyptratae flies.
Pipunculidae is a family of flies (Diptera) commonly termed big-headed flies, a reference to the large (holoptic) eyes, which cover nearly the entire head. The family is found worldwide and more than 1300 species have been described.
Rhagionidae or snipe flies are a small family of flies. They get their name from the similarity of their often prominent proboscis that looks like the beak of a snipe.
Carnidae, also known as Bird flies or Filth flies, is a family of flies (Diptera). There are 6 genera, containing about 93 species worldwide.
Superfamily Tabanoidea are insects in the order Diptera.
There are various disparate groups of wingless insects. Apterygota are a subclass of small, agile insects, distinguished from other insects by their lack of wings in the present and in their evolutionary history. They include Thysanura . Some species lacking wings are members of insect orders that generally do have wings. Some do not grow wings at all, having "lost" the possibility in the remote past. Some have reduced wings that are not useful for flying. Some develop wings but shed them after they are no longer useful. Other groups of insects may have castes with wings and castes without, such as ants. Ants have alate queens and males during the mating season and wingless workers, which allows for smaller workers and more populous colonies than comparable winged wasp species.
Braula is a genus of flies (Diptera) in the family Braulidae. These are very unusual flies, wingless and flattened, and barely recognizable as Diptera. Braula coeca Nitzsch is a pest of honey bees. The larvae tunnel through the wax honeycomb and the adults are found on the bodies of honey bees. There is some debate whether the bee louse causes damage to the honey bee. These flies sometimes can be found at places where bees congregate such as flowers or salt licks, waiting to grab onto hosts from uninfested nests. Braula is cosmopolitan and about 1.6 mm in length.
Dexiinae is a subfamily of flies in the family Tachinidae.
Hippobosca longipennis, the dog fly, louse fly, or blind fly, is a blood-feeding parasite mostly infesting carnivores. The species name "longipennis" means "long wings". Its bites can be painful and result in skin irritation, it is an intermediate host for the canine and hyaenid filarial parasite Dipetalonema dracunculoides, "and it may also be a biological or mechanical vector for other pathogens".
Pachygastrinae is a subfamily of flies in the family Stratiomyidae.
Chrysanthrax is a genus of bee flies in the family Bombyliidae.
Pipunculinae is a subfamily of big-headed flies.
Heterotropus is a genus of bee flies in the family Bombyliidae. It is the only genus in the subfamily Heterotropinae, which formerly contained at least four genera. There are more than 45 species in the genus Heterotropus.