| Carnoidea | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tethina lusitanica from family Canacidae | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Section: | Schizophora |
| Subsection: | Acalyptratae |
| Superfamily: | Carnoidea |
| Families | |
| |
Carnoidea is a superfamily of Acalyptratae flies.
In general, member of Carnoidea are small flies no more than a few millimetres long. [1] [2] [3]
Carnoidea is a poorly defined superfamily. In 1989, ten synapomorphies were described for the group, [4] but most of these have later been challenged. As of 2006, the following synapomorphies were described: uppermost fronto-orbital bristle(s) of the head is exclinate; phallus of the male is flexible, unsclerotized, simple and elongate; and phallus is microtrichose. [3]
Braulidae are associated with honey bees, with larvae developing in beeswax while adults attach to bees and feed from bee mouthparts. [5]
Canacidae adults are mainly found on seashore habitats such as beaches, estuarine tidal flats, wave-swept rocks and mangroves. Little is known about their larvae, but they are believed to mainly feed on algae in the intertidal zone. [6] Australimyzidae are also found on seashores, being associated with dead or decaying plant matter. [7]
Carnidae are scavengers found in various kinds of plant matter, animal dung, carrion and vertebrate nests. Milichiidae are also scavengers and most occur in a range of habitats, though some are restricted to ant nests, bee nests or bat dung in caves. [5]
Chloropidae are more varied in their larval ecology, including scavengers, herbivores in plant shoots and stems (these may be largely bacterial feeders), parasites feeding on frog blood, and predators of insect or spider eggs. [2]
Adults of Inbiomyiidae are believed to be microbial grazers, as dissections have found fungal, algal and probably bacterial material in their guts. The larvae are unknown. [3]
Australimyzidae and Inbiomyiidae are sister groups, meaning they are more closely related to each other than to any other family. [3]
Carnoidea may not be a monophyletic group. One molecular analysis found that its constituent families are more closely related to members of other superfamilies, such as Braulidae to Drosophilidae (superfamily Ephydroidea). [8]
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.
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.
The Asiloidea comprise a very large superfamily insects in the order Diptera, the true flies. It has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring worldwide. It includes the family Bombyliidae, the bee flies, which are parasitoids, and the Asilidae, the robber flies, which are predators of other insects.
The Phoridae are a family of small, hump-backed flies resembling fruit flies. 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. Another vernacular name, coffin fly, refers to Conicera tibialis. About 4,000 species are known in 230 genera. The most well-known species is cosmopolitan Megaselia scalaris. At 0.4 mm in length, the world's smallest fly is the phorid Euryplatea nanaknihali.
The Tephritoidea are a superfamily of flies. It has over 7,800 species, the majority of them in family Tephritidae.
Sphaeroceroidea is a superfamily of flies. It includes the cosmopolitan families of Sphaeroceridae, Heleomyzidae, and Chyromyidae, as well as a few smaller groups. It has about 2,600 species.
The Lauxanioidea are a superfamily of flies that includes the two large families, the Lauxaniidae and Chamaemyiidae, and the small family Celyphidae. Generally, they are small to medium, densely populated, coloured flies. The Chamaemyiidae live as parasites on insects. The family Celyphidae look like beetles.
The soldier flies are a family of flies. The family contains over 2,700 species in over 380 extant genera worldwide. Adults are found near larval habitats, which are found in a wide array of locations, mostly in wetlands, damp places in soil, sod, under bark, in animal excrement, and in decaying organic matter. The Stratiomyinae are a different subgroup that tends to have an affinity to aquatic environments. They are diverse in size and shape, though they commonly are partly or wholly metallic green, or somewhat wasplike mimics, marked with black and yellow or green and sometimes metallic. They are often rather inactive flies which typically rest with their wings placed one above the other over the abdomen.
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.
Milichiidae are a family of flies. Most species are very small and dark. Details of their biology have not yet been properly studied, but they are best known as kleptoparasites of predatory invertebrates, and accordingly are commonly known as freeloader flies or jackal flies. However, because of the conditions under which many species breed out, they also are known as filth flies.
Bombylius major is a parasitic bee mimic fly. B. major is the most common type of fly within the Bombylius genus. The fly derives its name from its close resemblance to bumblebees and are often mistaken for them.
Carnus hemapterus is a Dipteran insect, a small-bodied and partly black-coloured carnid fly. In their adult stage of life, they are blood-sucking ectoparasites of nestling birds. Within the genus Carnus, this is the only species widespread across Europe and the cold and temperate regions of Asia and North America. Female body length is about 1.5 mm, males are smaller. It typically occurs in the nests of medium- to large-bodied birds, provided that the nest is not on the ground. It is particularly common on the chicks of owls, falcons, rollers, bee-eaters and starlings. Females give birth to larvae that live within the nest and feed on organic debris and the pupae also overwinter there. The emergence of imagines is synchronized to the hatch of host nestlings in the subsequent year. They prefer larger chicks within the nest. Adult flies have a winged and an unwinged variety, the latter being more common. In fact, unwinged flies still carry the basal part of their wings, but the majority of the wing is broken off. Flies live only on the nestlings before and during the development of the plumage, and disappear later on.
Eristalinae are one of the four subfamilies of the fly family Syrphidae, or hoverflies. A well-known species included in this subfamily is the dronefly, Eristalis tenax.
Sciaroidea is a superfamily in the infraorder Bibionomorpha. There are about 16 families and more than 15,000 described species in Sciaroidea. Most of its constituent families are various gnats.
Diptera is an order of winged insects commonly known as flies. Diptera, which are one of the most successful groups of organisms on Earth, are very diverse biologically. None are truly marine but they occupy virtually every terrestrial niche. Many have co-evolved in association with plants and animals. The Diptera are a very significant group in the decomposition and degeneration of plant and animal matter, are instrumental in the breakdown and release of nutrients back into the soil, and whose larvae supplement the diet of higher agrarian organisms. They are also an important component in food chains.
Carnus is a genus of flies (Diptera) with 5 described species, all of which are parasites of birds. The adult flies locate a suitable host nest, then shed their wings and feed on the blood of the developing nestlings. Mature female flies lay their eggs in the nest, where their larvae develop on organic detritus.
Australimyzidae is a family of flies (Diptera). There is 1 genus, containing 9 known species known from Australia and New Zealand and subantarctic surrounding islands. They have saprophagous larvae.
Bombylius canescens, is a species of bee-fly belonging to the family Bombyliidae.
Mallophora bomboides, also known as the Florida bee killer, is a predaceous species of robber fly of the family Asilidae that feeds primarily on bumblebees. M. bomboides is a noteworthy instance of Batesian mimicry given its close resemblance to its prey, the bumblebee. These bees are typically found in the Eastern and Southern regions of the United States like South Carolina and Florida.
Sepsis thoracica, more commonly known as the black scavenger fly, a species of fly from the genus Sepsis and the family Sepsidae. It was discovered by Robineau-Desvoidy in 1830. It resembles a small flying ant. The fly is most commonly found inhabiting cow dung.