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Muscidae is a family of flies found in the superfamily Muscoidea
Muscoidea

Muscoidea is a superfamily of flies in the subsection Calyptratae....
. The apical segment of the antennae
Antenna (biology)

Antennae are paired appendages connected to the front-most morphogenesis of arthropods. In crustaceans, they are biramous and present on the first two segments of the head, with the smaller pair known as antennules....
 of Muscidae are plumose, and the basal portion is smooth.

Muscidae, some of which are commonly known as house flies
Housefly

The housefly , Musca domestica, is the most common of all flies fluttering in homes, and indeed one of the most widely distributed insects; it is often considered a pest that can carry serious diseases....
 or stable flies
Stable fly

Stomoxys calcitrans is commonly called the "stable fly", "horse fly", or "dog fly". Rather unusual for a member of the family Muscidae is that it Hematophagy from mammals....
 due to their synanthropy
Synanthrope

Synanthropes is a term applied to species of wild animals of various kinds which live near, and benefit from, an association with humans and the somewhat artificial habitats that humans create around them....
, are worldwide in distribution and contain almost 4,000 described species in over 100 genera.

Most species are not synanthropic. Adults can be predatory, hematophagous
Hematophagy

Hematophagy is the habit of certain animals of feeding on blood . Since blood is a fluid tissue rich in nutritious proteins and lipids that can be taken without enormous effort, hematophagy has evolution as a preferred form of feeding in many small animals such as worms and arthropods....
, saprophagous, or feed on a number of types of plant and animal exudates.






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Encyclopedia


Muscidae is a family of flies found in the superfamily Muscoidea
Muscoidea

Muscoidea is a superfamily of flies in the subsection Calyptratae....
. The apical segment of the antennae
Antenna (biology)

Antennae are paired appendages connected to the front-most morphogenesis of arthropods. In crustaceans, they are biramous and present on the first two segments of the head, with the smaller pair known as antennules....
 of Muscidae are plumose, and the basal portion is smooth.

Muscidae, some of which are commonly known as house flies
Housefly

The housefly , Musca domestica, is the most common of all flies fluttering in homes, and indeed one of the most widely distributed insects; it is often considered a pest that can carry serious diseases....
 or stable flies
Stable fly

Stomoxys calcitrans is commonly called the "stable fly", "horse fly", or "dog fly". Rather unusual for a member of the family Muscidae is that it Hematophagy from mammals....
 due to their synanthropy
Synanthrope

Synanthropes is a term applied to species of wild animals of various kinds which live near, and benefit from, an association with humans and the somewhat artificial habitats that humans create around them....
, are worldwide in distribution and contain almost 4,000 described species in over 100 genera.

Most species are not synanthropic. Adults can be predatory, hematophagous
Hematophagy

Hematophagy is the habit of certain animals of feeding on blood . Since blood is a fluid tissue rich in nutritious proteins and lipids that can be taken without enormous effort, hematophagy has evolution as a preferred form of feeding in many small animals such as worms and arthropods....
, saprophagous, or feed on a number of types of plant and animal exudates. They can be attracted to various substances including sugar, sweat, tears and blood. Larvae occur in various habitats including decaying vegetation, dry and wet soil, nests of insects and birds, fresh water, and carrion.

The housefly
Housefly

The housefly , Musca domestica, is the most common of all flies fluttering in homes, and indeed one of the most widely distributed insects; it is often considered a pest that can carry serious diseases....
, Musca domestica
Housefly

The housefly , Musca domestica, is the most common of all flies fluttering in homes, and indeed one of the most widely distributed insects; it is often considered a pest that can carry serious diseases....
, is the best known and most important species.

Identifying characteristics for the family Muscidae


Antennae 3-segmented, aristate; vein Rs 2-branched, frontal
Schizophora

Schizophora is a section of Diptera containing 78 families, which are collectively referred to as muscoids, even though - technically - the term "muscoid" should be limited to flies in the superfamily Muscoidea; this is an example of informal, historical usage persisting in the vernacular....
 suture present, calypter
Calypter

A calypter is either of two posterior lobes of the posterior margin of the insect wing of fly between the extreme posterior wing base and the alula, which covers the halteres....
s well developed. Arista
Antenna (biology)

Antennae are paired appendages connected to the front-most morphogenesis of arthropods. In crustaceans, they are biramous and present on the first two segments of the head, with the smaller pair known as antennules....
 usually plumose for the entire length. Hypopleuron usually without bristles; generally more than one sternopleural bristle. R5 cell either parallel sided or narrowed distally. Vein 2A short and not reaching wing margin.

For a pictorial atlas explaining these terms go to

The Fanniidae
Fanniidae

The Fanniidae are a small group of Diptera largely confined to the Holarctic and temperate Neotropical regions.There are 11 Afrotropical species, 29 Oriental, and 14 Australasian....
 , which used to be a sub-family (Fanniinae) of the Muscidae share these characters, but may be separated from them by the absence of the identifying characteristics for the family Fanniidae.



Biology

Larvae mainly breed in decaying plant material or manure.

Association with disease


Adults of many species passively vector pathogens for diseases such as typhoid fever
Typhoid fever

Typhoid fever, also known as enteric fever, or commonly just typhoid, is an illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi. Common worldwide, it is transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with feces from an infected person....
, dysentery
Dysentery

Dysentery is a disorder of the digestive system that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the feces. If untreated, Dysentery can be fatal....
, anthrax
Anthrax

Anthrax is an Acute disease in humans and animals caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, which is highly lethal in some forms. There are effective vaccines against anthrax, and some forms of the disease respond well to antibiotic treatment....
, and African sleeping sickness.

Evolution

Seven species in 6 described genera have been recorded from the fossil record. Lambrecht (1980: 369) estimated that the family Muscidae originated as long ago as the Permian
Permian

The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Roderick Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian system" after the ancient kingdom...
 , although no fossil record exists for the family any older than the Eocene
Eocene

The Eocene Geologic time scale is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Palaeogene period in the Cenozoic era....
.

Other Images


Further reading

  • Identification
    • Hennig, W. (1955-64). Muscidae in Erwin Lindner
      Erwin Lindner

      Erwin Lindner was a Germany entomologist mainly interested in Diptera.He was born in B?glins, Memmingen , 7 April 1888 and died in Stuttgart 30 November 1988, aged 100 years....
       , Die Fliegen der Paläarktischen Region 63b,Schweizerbart,Stuttgart.
    • Huckett, H.C. 1965. The Muscidae of northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland (Diptera). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 42: 1-369. 23 plates of drawings.
    • Séguy, E., 1937, Diptera, family Muscidae. In: P. Wystmann (ed.), Genera Insectorum, Brussels, 205: 604. Includes a key to world genera.
    • Shinonaga, S. & Kano, R.,, 1971, Fauna Japonica Muscidae (Insecta:Diptera) ,Academia press,242pp.+28Plates. Keys to Eastern Palaearctic genera of several subfamilies.
  • Gregor, Fr. et al., 2002 The Muscidae (Diptera) of Central Europe, Brno, Folia Biologia, 107.
  • Biology
  • Use of DNA in forensic entomology
    Use of DNA in forensic entomology

    Forensic entomology contains three aspects: medicocriminal entomology, urban entomology, and stored product entomology. This article focuses more on the medicocriminal aspect and how DNA is analyzed with various blood feeding insects....
    • Skidmore, P., 1985, The biology of the Muscidae of the world. Junk, Dordrecht. Series entomologica, 29, xiv + 550p.


Species lists



Other

Types in Humboldt Museum
Humboldt Museum

The Museum f?r Naturkunde , widely known as the Naturkundemuseum, occasionally as the Humboldt Museum of Berlin. It has a massive collection of more than 25 million zoological, paleontological, and minerological specimens, including more than ten thousand type specimens....
, Berlin

External links