British Insects: the Families of Diptera
| British Insects: the Families of Diptera | |
Cellar-flies, Small Fruit-flies, Vinegar-flies.
Adult insects. Very small to small. Antennae 3 segmented (third segment short and rounded); ‘modified’. Antennae aristate (the arista usually plumose, and characteristically forked at the tip); the bristle dorsal. The second antennal segment not grooved. Ptilinal suture clearly defined. Ocelli present; 3. Lower orbital bristles present, or absent; when present, curved forward. Post-vertical orbital bristles present; convergent, or parallel. Mouthparts functional; non-piercing. The maxillary palps 1 segmented; porrect. Vibrissae present to absent (i.e., sometimes indistinct). Thorax without a continuous dorsal suture; without well defined posterior calli. Wings with a discal cell (in a few genera), or without a discal cell (usually confluent with the basal cell); without a sub-apical cell; with a closed anal cell. The anal cell short. The costa with two breaks (near the humeral cross vein, and near the end of vein 1). Sub-costa apparent; terminating blind, or joining vein 1 well short of the costa. Vein 6 present; falling short of the wing margin. Wings with the lower calypter much reduced or absent. Tibiae with a dorsal pre-apical bristle. Hind tibiae without strong bristles in the basal 4/5. Neither parasitic nor predatory.
Larvae and pupae. Larvae terrestrial; saprophagous, or mycophagous, or predatory (most seemingly fungiferous, often on yeasts in decaying fruits); acephalic. Pupa enclosed within a puparium.
Comments. Very small to small flies, often with light red eyes, often attracted to fermenting substances - strongly associated with manufacture of beer, cider, vinegar, and pickles.
Classification. Suborder Brachycera; Division Muscomorpha Schizophora Acalyptratae; Superfamily Ephydroidea.
British representation: Genera 8; 59 species.
Illustrations: • Drosophila cameraria (Hairy-thoraxed Cellar-fly: B. Ent. 473). • Drosophila cameraria (detail: B. Ent. 473). • Drosophila cameraria (dissections: B. Ent. 473). • Drosophila cameraria (B. Ent. 473, legend+text). • Drosophila melanogaster: Walker.
To view the illustrations with detailed captions, go to the interactive key. This also offers full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. British insects: the families of Diptera. Version: 9th April 2007. http://delta-intkey.com’.
