| Pygophora | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pygophora apicalis | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Muscidae |
| Genus: | Pygophora Schiner, 1868 |
Pygophora is a genus of flies belonging to the family Muscidae, comprising roughly 80 species as of 2023. [1]
The species of this genus are found in Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. [1]
The head of adult Pygophora has the upper inclinate frontal setae inserted much closer to lower reclinate frontal setae than to lower inclinate frontal setae. The arista of the antennae is very plumose (hairy) on the basal half and bare on the apical half (rarely, the basal four-fifths are sparsely plumose. The ocellar setae are moderately developed and always distinct. On the thorax, the lowest sternopleural setae is much shorter and finer than either of the upper sternopleural setae. The fore tibia has a strong submedian postero-ventral seta. [2]
The genus can be divided into two groups based on the number of preapical setae on the mid femur. Some species have only one preapical setae, and these occur in Asia and Africa while being unknown in New Guinea, Australia and the Pacific. Conversely, the species with two preapical setae occur mainly in Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia and the western Pacific, with few species in mainland Asia and none in mainland Asia. [2]
Pygophora, like some other members of subfamily Coenosiinae, are predators. Their known prey include other flies in the families Psychodidae (moth flies), Culicidae (mosquitoes), Chironomidae (non-biting midges) and Mycetophilidae (fungus gnats). [2]
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The family Sciomyzidae belongs to the typical flies (Brachycera) of the order Diptera. They are commonly called marsh flies, and in some cases snail-killing flies due to the food of their larvae.
The Calliphoridae are a family of insects in the order Diptera, with almost 1,900 known species. The maggot larvae, often used as fishing bait, are known as gentles. The family is known to be polyphyletic, but much remains disputed regarding proper treatment of the constituent taxa, some of which are occasionally accorded family status.
The Conopidae, also known as the thick-headed flies, are a family of flies within the Brachycera suborder of Diptera, and the sole member of the superfamily Conopoidea. Flies of the family Conopidae are distributed worldwide in all the biogeographic realms except for the poles and many of the Pacific islands. About 800 species in 47 genera are described worldwide, about 70 of which are found in North America. The majority of conopids are black and yellow, or black and white, and often strikingly resemble wasps, bees, or flies of the family Syrphidae, themselves notable bee mimics. A conopid is most frequently found at flowers, feeding on nectar with its proboscis, which is often long.
The Anthomyiidae are a large and diverse family of Muscoidea flies. Most look rather like small houseflies. Most species are drab grey to black. Many Pegomya are yellow, and some members of the genera Anthomyia and Eutrichota are patterned in black-and-white or black-and-silvery-grey. Most are difficult to identify, apart from a few groups such as the kelp flies that are conspicuous on beaches.
Muscidae are a family of flies found in the superfamily Muscoidea.
The Fanniidae are a small group of true flies largely confined to the Holarctic and temperate Neotropical realms; there are 11 Afrotropical species, 29 Oriental, and 14 Australasian.
The Psilidae are family of flies. Commonly called the rust flies, at least 38 species are in four genera. The carrot fly is a member of this group. They are found mainly in the Holarctic.
The Agromyzidae are a family of flies, commonly referred to as the leaf-miner flies for the feeding habits of their larvae, most of which are leaf miners on various plants. It includes roughly 2,500 species, they are small, some with wing length of 1 mm. The maximum size is 6.5 mm. Most species are in the range of 2 to 3 mm.
The conopid genus Stylogaster is a group of unusual flies. It is the only genus in the subfamily Stylogastrinae, which some authorities have historically treated as a separate family Stylogastridae.
The Lauxaniidae are a family of acalyptrate flies. They generally are small flies with large compound eyes that often are brightly coloured in life, sometimes with characteristic horizontal stripes, such as in Cestrotus species. Many species have variegated patterns on their wings, but in contrast they generally do not have variegated bodies, except for genera such as Cestrotus, whose camouflage mimics lichens or the texture of granitic rocks.
The Lonchaeidae are a family of acalyptrate flies commonly known as lance flies. About 500 described species are placed into 9 genera. These are generally small but robustly built flies with blue-black or metallic bodies. They are found, mainly in wooded areas, throughout the world with the exception of polar regions and New Zealand.
The Chamaemyiidae are a small family of acalyptrate flies with less than 200 species described worldwide. The larvae of these small flies are active and predatory and are often used for biological control of aphids, scale insects, and similar pests. Chamaemyiid fossils are poorly represented in amber deposits, but a few examples are known from the Eocene epoch onwards.
Opomyzidae is a family of acalyptrate Diptera. They are generally small, slender, yellow, brown or black coloured flies. The larval food plants are grasses, including cereal crops, the adults are mainly found in open habitats. Some species being agricultural pests.
Rhinophorinae is a subfamily of flies (Diptera), commonly known as Woodlouse Flies, found in all zoogeographic regions except Oceania, but mainly in the Palaearctic and Afrotropical regions.
Canacidae, incorrectly Canaceidae, or beach flies, surf or surge flies, is a family of Diptera. As of 2010, 307 species in 27 genera. The family now includes Tethininae as a subfamily.
The Coelopidae or kelp flies are a family of Acalyptratae flies, they are sometimes also called seaweed flies, though both terms are used for a number of seashore Diptera. Fewer than 40 species occur worldwide. The family is found in temperate areas, with species occurring in the southern Afrotropical, Holarctic, and Australasian regions.
The Platystomatidae are a distinctive family of flies (Diptera) in the superfamily Tephritoidea.
Acemyini is a small but cosmopolitan tribe of flies in the family Tachinidae. Like all tachinid flies, acemyiines are parasitoids of other invertebrates. Specifically, the acemyiines are parasitoids of Orthoptera in the families Acrididae and Eumastacidae.
Dipteran morphology differs in some significant ways from the broader morphology of insects. The Diptera is a very large and diverse order of mostly small to medium-sized insects. They have prominent compound eyes on a mobile head, and one pair of functional, membraneous wings, which are attached to a complex mesothorax. The second pair of wings, on the metathorax, are reduced to halteres. The order's fundamental peculiarity is its remarkable specialization in terms of wing shape and the morpho-anatomical adaptation of the thorax – features which lend particular agility to its flying forms. The filiform, stylate or aristate antennae correlate with the Nematocera, Brachycera and Cyclorrhapha taxa respectively. It displays substantial morphological uniformity in lower taxa, especially at the level of genus or species. The configuration of integumental bristles is of fundamental importance in their taxonomy, as is wing venation. It displays a complete metamorphosis, or holometabolous development. The larvae are legless, and have head capsules with mandibulate mouthparts in the Nematocera. The larvae of "higher flies" (Brachycera) are however headless and wormlike, and display only three instars. Pupae are obtect in the Nematocera, or coarcate in Brachycera.
Pygophora apicalis is a species of fly in the family Muscidae and subfamily Coenosiinae. It is native to Australia and has been introduced to New Zealand.
