Harold Oldroyd (24 December 1913 – 3 September 1978) was a British entomologist. He specialised in the biology of flies, and wrote many books, especially popular science that helped entomology to reach a broader public. His The Natural History of Flies is considered to be the "fly Bible". Although his speciality was the Diptera, he acknowledged that they are not a popular topic: "Breeding in dung, carrion, sewage and even living flesh, flies are a subject of disgust...not to be discussed in polite society". It was Oldroyd who proposed the idea of hyphenating the names of true flies (Diptera) to distinguish them from other insects with "fly" in their names. Thus, the "house-fly", "crane-fly" and "blow-fly" would be true flies, while the "dragonfly", "scorpion fly" and so on belong to other orders. He also debunked the calculation that a single pair of house-flies, if allowed to reproduce without inhibitions could, within nine months, number 5.6×1012 individuals, enough to cover the Earth to a thickness of 14.3 m (47 ft). Oldroyd calculated that such a layer would only cover Germany, but remarked "that is still a lot of flies".
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.
Ceroxys is a genus of picture-winged flies in the family Ulidiidae.
Dorycera is a genus of picture-winged flies in the family Ulidiidae.
Otites is a genus of picture-winged fly in the family Ulidiidae.
Ulidia erythrophthalma is a species of ulidiid or picture-winged fly in the genus Ulidia of the family Ulidiidae.
Ceroxys confusa is a species of ulidiid or picture-winged fly in the genus Ceroxys of the family Ulidiidae.
Ceroxys laticornis is a species of ulidiid or picture-winged fly in the genus Ceroxys of the family Ulidiidae.
Tujunga is a monotypic genus of picture-winged fly in the family Ulidiidae. Tujunga mackenziei is the sole species in the genus.
Melieria omissa is a small fly that is commonly found in wet, marshy vegetation in May. Scientists think that the dagger-like ovipositor of the females might be used for inserting eggs into vegetation.
Herina is a genus of flies in the family Ulidiidae. It is possibly the largest genus in the family.
Herina palustris is a species of picture-winged fly in the genus Herina of the family Ulidiidae.
Herina frondescentiae is a species of picture-winged fly in the genus Herina of the family Ulidiidae It is wetland species of about 3–4 millimetres (0.12–0.16 in) in length. found in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Latvia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Andorra, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Albania, Ukraine, Croatia, Estonia, Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Switzerland.
Herina germinationis is a species of picture-winged fly in the genus Herina of the family Ulidiidae In the United Kingdom it is a species of dry calcareous grassland including coastal cliffs. It is about 5.0–5.5 millimetres (0.20–0.22 in) long. found in the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
Otitinae is the name of a subfamily of flies in the family Ulidiidae. It was formerly the Otitidae. Like the Ulidiinae, most species are herbivorous or saprophagous. Most species share with the Tephritidae an unusual elongated projection of the anal cell in the wing, but can be differentiated by the smoothly curving subcostal vein. Most are dull gray to shiny brown or black flies with vein R1 setulose or, in a few cases, bare.
Ceroxys cinifera is a species of picture-winged fly in the genus Ceroxys of the family Ulidiidae.
Ceroxys fraudulosa is a species of picture-winged fly in the genus Ceroxys of the family Ulidiidae.
Myennis octopunctata is a species of picture-winged fly in the genus Myennis of the family Ulidiidae.
Ortalis is an historic genus of Ulidiid or picture-winged flies, first described by Fallén in 1810. It served as the type genus for the family Ulidiidae, which was called Ortalidae at the time. In 1932, it was pointed out by Adlrich that the name Ortalis was preoccupied by a genus of birds which had been named by Merrem in 1786. The name of the fly family was therefore revised, with some authors calling it Otitidae until Ulidiidae was settled on as standard. The genus itself was found to be paraphyletic, and all of its species have been reassigned to other genera, some in the Ulidiidae, and some in other Tephritoid families. In the following list, the species are organized according to the families and genera to which they have been reassigned.
