Sphaeroceridae are afamily of true flies in theorderDiptera, often calledsmall dung flies,lesser dung flies orlesser corpse flies due to theirsaprophagous habits. They belong to the typical flysuborderBrachycera as can be seen by their shortantennae, and more precisely they are members of thesectionSchizophora. There are over 1,300species and about 125genera accepted as valid today, but newtaxa are still being described.[2]
Dung flies are small to minute, usually dull-colored flies with characteristically thickened first tarsomere of the posterior leg. The first tarsal segment is less than1+1/2 times as long as the second tarsal segment and dilated. The crossvein separating the second basal and discal cells is missing. Veins four and five often fade apically. They occurall over the world except in regions with permanent ice-cover. Despite their ubiquity and abundance, little is known about their economic orecological impact. Some species are known to beparthenogenetic.
Larval stages are poorly known, but those described are slender, narrowed anteriorly, with groups of ventral spicules on creeping welts. The larva is amphipneustic (having only the anterior and posterior pairs of spiracles). The mandibles are simple, hooked, and without additional teeth. The parastomal bars are long, thin structures, fused to the tentoropharyngeal sclerite. The hypopharyngeal sclerites are long separate or connected by a sclerotized bridge; the anterior spiracle (prothoracic spiracle) is a rosette or branched. The posterior spiracles (on the anal segment) are usually on two cylindrical lobes. Each spiracle has three slit or oval openings and three or five groups of interspiracular hairs that are branched in some species.[citation needed]
The larvae aremicrobial grazers found in abundance in many microenvironments with decomposingorganic material. Most species appear to be associated with decayingplants orfungi and they are a part of thenutrient cycle. Some species, especiallycave species, arepolysaprophagous. Many species are associated with various kinds offaeces including human faeces; there are a fewcarrion-feeding species. These, however, are extremely abundant and are important components of the carrion-insect community. Sphaerocerids that abound in economically important decomposer communities such as compost and manure, and somedecay cycles such as thewrack (seaweed) cycle are mediated by sphaerocerid-dominated insect communities.
As theirmicrobe-associated habits suggest, sphaerocerids may carry manypathogenic microorganisms.[3] Although their reclusive habits preclude a major role in disease transmission; some can present apublic health hazard on occasion or act as a warning of one. For instanceLeptocera caenosa and other sphaerocerids are associated with blocked sewage drains.[4] Some species occasionally reach high population levels in food-processing plants and other buildings where they may indicate blocked drains, waste accumulation and inadequate hygiene. One species,Poecilosomella angulata, has been implicated in humanintestinalmyiasis[5] They have been implicated as the major means by whichnematodes are disseminated among mushroom houses. Sphaeoceridae often coexist with muscoids especiallyFannia canicularis andMusca domestica in the complex manure ecosystem ofpoultry houses, and other confined-animal facilities. Here the sphaeocerids are prey for mites and beetles, which themselves also feed on the immatures of muscoid flies reducing the population of the more problematic muscoids.[6] Carrion-feeding species are usefulpost mortem interval indicators inforensic entomology.
The genera are arranged alphabetically according to subfamily; these are arranged in the presumedphylogenetic sequence from the most ancestral to the most advanced:[2]
^abcdeMacquart1835, P. J. M.Histoire Naturelle des insectes. Dipteres. Tome deuxieme. Paris: Roret. pp. 710, 12 pl.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^abcdRohček, Jindřich; Marshall, Stephen A.; Norrbom, Allen L.; Buck, Matthias; Quiros, Dora Isabel; Smith, Ian (2001). Rohček, Jindřich (ed.).World Catalog of Sphaeroceridae (Diptera). Opava: Slezské Zemské Muzeum. pp. 1–414.ISBN978-8086224213. Retrieved3 September 2017.
^Greenberg, B., 1971.Flies and Disease, volume I:Ecology, Classification, and Biotic Association. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.
^Fredeen, F. J. H.; Taylor, M. E. (1964). "Borborids (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae) infesting sewage disposal tanks, with notes on the life cycle, behavior and control of Leptocera(Leptocera) caenosa (Rondani)".Can. Entomol.96 (5):801–808.doi:10.4039/ent96801-5.
^McKibben, J.W.; Micks, D.W. (1956). "Report of a case of human intestinal myiasis caused by Leptocera venalicia".American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.5 (5):929–32.doi:10.4269/ajtmh.1956.5.929.PMID13362764.
^Axtell, R. C. (1985). Chapter 16: "Poultry Pests". In:Livestock Entomology (Williams et al., editors), Wiley & Sons, New York. pp. 269–293.
^Marshall, S. A. (1996). "Tucma fritzi, a new species in the enigmatic genusTucma Mourguès-Schurter (Diptera, Sphaeroceridae, Tucminae new subfamily)".Studia Dipterologica (3):283–288.
^Mourguès-Schurter, L. (1987). "Tucma, novo gènero de Copromyzinae para a AmÈrica do Sul (Diptera, Sphaeroceridae)".Revista Brasileira de Entomologia, S"o Paulo.31 (1):118–122.
^Stenhammar, C. (1855). "Skandinaviens Copromyzine granskade och beskrifne".Kongliga Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar. Ser. 3.1853. Stockholm:257–442.
^abcHedicke, H. (1923). "Nomina nova. IV".Deutsche entomologische Zeitschrift.1923 (4): 431.doi:10.1002/mmnd.48019230413.
^Richards, O. W. (1961). "Diptera (Sphaeroceridae) from south Chile".Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London B.30:57–68.
^abcdLioy, P. (1864).I Ditteri distribuiti secondo un nuovo metodo di classifi cazione naturale Serie III, 9. Venezia: Atti dellíIstituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. pp. 1087–1126.
^Vanschuytbroeck, P. (1948). "Sphaeroceridae (Diptera, Acalyptratae)".Exploration du Parc National Albert, Mission G. F. De Witte (1933-35).52:1–43.
^Papp, L. (1988). "A review of the Afrotropical species of Norrbomia gen.n. (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae, Copromyzini)".Acta Zoologica Hungarica.34:393–408.
^Duda, Oswald (1929). "Die Ausbeute der deutschen Chako-Expedition 1925/1926 (Diptera). VI. Sepsidae, VII. Piophilidae, VIII. Cypselidae, IX. Drosophilidae und X. Chloropidae".Konowia.8 (1):33–50.
^Richards, O. W. (1941). "Sphaeroceridae (Diptera) collected by the British Graham Land Expedition, 1934-1937".British Graham Land Expedition 1934-37, Scientific Reports.1 (7):323–326.
^abPapp, László (1973). "Sphaeroceridae (Diptera) from Mongolia".Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae.19:369–425.
^Kim, K. C. (1968). "Revision of Sphaerocera, with description of a new genusAfromyia (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae)".Annals of the Entomological Society of America.61 (2):296–312.doi:10.1093/aesa/61.2.296.
^abKim, K. C. "The New World genusParasphaerocera and allied groups, with descriptions of new genera and species (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae)".Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America.8 (6):377–444.
^Richards, O. W. (1950). "New species of Sphaeroceridae (Diptera) found with driver ants (Dorylinae) by S. Patrizi and F. Meneghetti".Bollettino dellí Istituto di Entomologia della Università degli Studi di Bologna.18:14–23.
^Papp, László (1978). "Sphaeroceridae (Diptera) in the collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum. IV. Sphaerocerinae".Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae.24:371–395.
^abcdRichards, O. W. (1951). "Brachypterous Sphaeroceridae".British Museum (Natural History) Ruwenzori Expedition, 1934-1935.2 (8):829–851.
^Eaton, A. E. (1875). "Breves dipterarum uniusque lepidopterarum insulae Kerguelensi indigenarum diagnoses".The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine.12:58–61.
^Schiner, J. R. (1868).Diptera. In: Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859 unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair. Zoologischer Theil. Vol. 2. Wien: B. K. Gerold’s Sohn. pp. Pt. 1, vi + 388 pp.
^Schmitz, H. (1917). "Anommonia, eine neue myrmecophile Borboridengattung aus Kamerun".Zoologische Mededelingen.3. Leiden:121–126.
^Vimmer, A. (1929). "Dvě nové bezkřídlé mouchy (čel. Cypselidae) [Zwei neue fluegellosen Di- pteren - Fam. Cypselidae]".Časopis Československé Společnosti Entomologické.26:64–68.
^abcdeRichards, O. W. (1973). "The Sphaeroceridae (= Borboridae or Cypselidae; Diptera Cyclorrhapha) of the Australian Region".Australian Journal of Zoology, Supplementary Series.21 (22):297–401.doi:10.1071/ajzs022.
^abcSpuler, Anthony (1924). "North American genera and subgenera of the dipterous family Borboridae".Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.75 (1923):369–378.
^Richards, O. W. (1953). "Two new African species ofCeroptera Meigen (Diptera, Sphaeroceridae)".Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London B.22:5–8.
^Coninck, E. de (1983). "Gobersa leleupi n.g., n.sp., a brachypterous Sphaerocerid from the Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania (Diptera)".Revue de Zoologie Africaine, Tervuren.97 (2):337–344.
^abEnderlein, Günther (1938). Skottsberg, C. (ed.). "60. Die Dipterenfauna der Juan-Fernandez-Inseln und der Oster-Insel".The Natural History of Juan Fernández and Easter Island (Zool.) Uppsala.3:643–680.
^Papp, László (1981). "Two new genera of the apterous and subapterous Sphaeroceridae (Diptera) from India".Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae.27:381–388.
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^Marshall, S. A. (2000). "A new genus of ant-like sphaerocerid from Mexico (Diptera, Sphaeroceridae)".Studia dipterologica.7:213–223.
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^abcdDuda, Oswald (1918). "Revision der europäischen Arten der GattungLimosina Macquart (Dipteren)".Abhandlungen der k.k. Zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien.10 (1):1–240.
^abRichards, O. W. (1960). "Further brachypterous and apterous Sphaeroceridae in the collection of the Musée royal du Congo belge".Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaines.61:320–332.
^Richards, O. W. (1963). "Diptera: Sphaeroceridae (Borboridae)".Insects of Micronesia.14 (5):109–134.
^Hayashi, T. (2006). "Description of a new genusPapualimosina (Diptera, Sphaeroceridae) from the Australasian Region".Japanese Journal of Systematic Entomology.12:225–229.
^Koçak, A. Ö; Kemal, M. (2010). "Nomenclatural notes on the genus group names of the order Diptera".Miscellaneous Papers, Centre for Entomological Studies Ankara.151:5–7.
^Marshall, Stephen A.; Dong, H. (2008). "Parasclerocoelus, a new south temperate genus of Limosininae (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae)".Studia Dipterologica.15:223–230.
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^Marshall, Stephen A.; Cui, Yongsheng (2005). "Systematics ofRobustagramma, a new genus of New World Sphaeroceridae (Diptera)".Zootaxa.1026. Auckland, New Zealand: Magnolia Press:1–122.doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1026.1.1.ISSN1175-5334.
^Roháček, Jindřich (1987a). "Replacement name forRudolfia Roháček, 1982 (Diptera, Sphaeroceridae), with first record ofR. rozkosnyi from northern Europe".Acta Entomologica Bohemoslovaca.84:474–476.
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^Richards, O. W. (1965). "Diptera, Flightless Sphaeroceridae and Chloropidae. Mission zoologique de l'I.R.S.A.C. en Afrique orientale. (P. Basilewsky et N. Leleup, 1957)".Annales du Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Série in 8 o, Sciences Zoologiques.138:415–464.
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