| Hippoboscidae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| The flightlessCrataerina pallida | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Clade: | Eremoneura |
| (unranked): | Cyclorrhapha |
| Section: | Schizophora |
| Subsection: | Calyptratae |
| Superfamily: | Hippoboscoidea |
| Family: | Hippoboscidae Samouelle, 1819 |
| Subfamilies | |
| Synonyms | |
Hypoboscidae(lapsus) | |
Hippoboscidae, thelouse flies orkeds, areobligate parasites ofmammals andbirds. In thisfamily, the wingedspecies can fly at least reasonably well, though others with vestigial or no wings are flightless and highlyapomorphic. As usual in theirsuperfamilyHippoboscoidea, most of thelarval development takes place within the mother's body, andpupation occurs almost immediately.[2]
The sheep ked,Melophagus ovinus, is a wingless, reddish-brown fly that parasitizessheep. The Neotropical deer ked,Lipoptena mazamae, is a commonectoparasite ofwhite-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the southeastern United States. Both winged and wingless forms may be seen. A common winged species isHippobosca equina, called "the louse fly". Species in other genera are found on birds; for example,Ornithomya bequaerti has been collected from birds inAlaska. Two species of the Hippoboscidae –Ornithoica (Ornithoica) podargi andOrnithomya fuscipennis are also common parasites of thetawny frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) of Australia.
Pseudolynchia canariensis is commonly found onpigeons anddoves, and can serve as the vector of"pigeon malaria".Louse flies of birds may transmit other parasites such as those in the genusPlasmodium or otherHaemoproteus parasites. Some evidence indicates that other Hippoboscidae can serve as vectors of disease agents to mammals. For example, a louse fly of the speciesIcosta americana was found withWest Nile Virus infection from anAmerican Kestrel.[3]
In some obsolete taxonomies, the name Hippoboscidae is applied to the group properly known asPupipara, i.e. the present family plus the bat flies (Nycteribiidae and "Streblidae"). They are called pupipara because the females birth live young, one at a time, that are deposited as late stage larvae called a prepuparium that pupate immediately at birth.[4][5][6]For the speciesPseudolynchia canariensis, as well as other louse flies, reproduction is energetically expensive. Larvae feed on milk glands within the female fly prior to being deposited. Single offspring (pupae) can weigh more than an unfed emerged adult fly since the pupal casing is included in the pupal weight and teneral flies often put on mass after their first few blood meals.[7] Two of the three traditionalsubfamilies (Hippoboscinae andLipopteninae) have been shown to be goodmonophyletic groups at least overall. According tocladistic analysis of severalDNA sequences, to make theOrnithomyinae monophyletic, theirtribeOlfersini deserves to be recognized as a full family, too.[8][9]
