Size range 1 mm to 7.5 cm; wings, when present, number 2; hind wings reduced to.... larva sometim

Size range 1 mm to 7.5 cm; wings, when present, number 2; hind wings reduced to halteres; sucking mouthparts; 85,000 species; worldwide distribution; diverse habitats and diets in both larvae and adults. Compact, well-armoured flies; strong spurs on legs; often abundant on spring blossoms; larvae in soil, sometimes found in a tangled mass near roots of plants. Tiny flies seldom seen as adults; shapeless larvae burrow into plant tissues, cause formation of plant galls, and deform leaves, stems, and roots; some horticultural and agricultural pests. Tiny, with hairy wings; often seen singly in kitchens, on windows above sinks; some larvae numerous in sewage sedimentation tanks; larvae mostly aquatic. Name usually shortened to Brachycera; flagellum of antennae nearly always fused into a compound 3rd segment, remaining diminutive segments form a stumpy style or bristle-like arista; anal cell of wing narrowed, nearly always closed on or before wing margin; palpi seldom with more t! han 3 segments, often 2 or 1, held forward (porrect); larvae usually with well-defined head, mandibles move vertically or parallel, cannot be opposed; adult escapes from pupa by a rectangular slit (Orthorrhapha). Colourful flies, found resting on vegetation with wings closed; males sometimes dance in air; larvae sometimes elongate, aquatic, active, carnivorous ( Stratiomys ); others in decaying vegetation ( Hermetia ). Tiny black flies, on windows indoors; develop from larvae in carpets, feed on flea and clothes moth larvae; natural habitat, bird nests or similar dry debris. Tiny flies sometimes numerous indoors; larvae live in any organic debris rich in protein or nitrogenous decay products and scavenge in nests of wasps, bees, ants, termites; breed in carrion; many adults wingless or with short wings (brachypterous). Vena spuria in wing runs between third and fourth veins; familiar everywhere; hover over flowers, settle on leaves; some larvae aquatic (rat-tailed maggots);! larvae of many species feed on aphids on plant stems and leav! es. All flies with a ptilinal suture in head; larvae with no external head structure, mouth hooks visible through cuticle, one pair of prothoracic spiracles and one pair of posterior spiracles, each with either three slits or a mass of small pores; larvae with fore end pointed and hind end truncate are called maggots; larvae with both ends blunt and fleshy, with bulges and tracts of spines, are called grubs. Thoracic squamae ( i.e., calypters that join base of wing to thorax) are small or evanescent; small soft-bodied flies; major families well established; placement of genera uncertain; families can be grouped according to food preferences of larvae. (kelp flies, seaweed flies) Breed in wrack ( i.e., heaps of decaying seaweed stranded on beaches) chiefly in temperate countries; adults of some species attracted by trichloroethylene; sometimes pests. Tiny, black-brown flies; first tarsal segments of hind legs swollen; abundant throughout world in dunglike materials; some mem! bers live in seaweed on beaches; many short-winged or wingless species. Transitional; wide range of larval habitats; no substance unpalatable for larvae ( e.g., algae, sewage, excrement, carrion, urine, brine, hot springs, tar pools); carnivorous petroleum fly ( Psilopa petrolei ) lives in pools of crude petroleum seepage preying on trapped insects; many larvae feed in terrestrial and aquatic plants. Many species include the housefly; some larvae carnivorous, especially in third instar; breed in decaying vegetable matter or dung; larvae of Fannia , the lesser housefly like materials soaked in urine; economically important muscid larvae feed on plant stems and roots; subfamily (sometimes a separate family) Anthomyiinae contains dipteran plant pests; stable fly, Stomoxys , (biting proboscis in both sexes) may be placed in a separate family, Stomoxyidae; tsetse fly Glossina , confined to Africa, peculiar structurally and biologically, sometimes placed in the family Glossinidae! , occurred in North America in the Miocene. Offshoot of Calliphoridae a! bove; larvae are parasitic in rodents; one larva, Dermatobia hominis (human bot fly) also attacks man; eggs sometimes attached to mosquitoes and other biting flies and carried to their prospective prey. larva sometim