Heleomyzidae

Heleomyzidae is a small family of true flies in the insect order Diptera. There are over 650 described species of Heleomyzidae in about 80 genera and 22 tribes distributed throughout the world; the greatest number occur in the Holarctic Region. Approximately 100 species of Heleomyzidae are found in North America. Larvae feed on decaying plant and animal matter, mushrooms and various fungi. All of the subfamilies have been commonly recognized as families in the past, but are now included within the Heleomyzidae (McAlpine,D.K.,1985).

Heleomyzidae are small to medium sized flies which vary in colour from yellow to reddish yellow or reddish brown to black. The wings often have small but distinctly longer, well-spaced spines mixed with the shorter spines along the leading edge and the crossveins are often clouded.

Adults of Borboroides and Heleomicra are attracted to carcasses and faeces. The larvae of the Holarctic Suillinae and Tapeigaster occur principally in fungi. Larvae of Cairnsimyia live in borer tunnels in trees.

External links

• Heleomyzid fly Suillia sp. diagnostic photographs
• Family description and figures
• The European subfamilies, tribes, genera and species- Fauna Europaea

Identification

Palaearctic

• Czerny, L., 1924. Monographie der Helomyziden. Abhandlung der Zoologischen-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 15(1): 1–166. Keys genera and species.
• Czerny, L., 1937. Ergänzungen zu meiner Monographie der Helomyziden. X. Konowia, 16(2): 137–142.
• Gorodkov, K.B., 1984. Family Heleomyzidae (Helomyzidae), 15–45.In: Soós Á. and L. Papp, (eds.), Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera,vol.10, Budapest.
• Papp, T.,1978. Some cavernicolous Diptera of the Geneva Museum. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 85: 99-106.
• Papp, T., 1998. Heleomyzidae. Chapter 3.41, 439–455. In: Papp L. and B. Darvas, (eds.), Contribution to a manual of Palaearctic Diptera. Vol. 3. 1998. Science Herald, Budapest, 880 pp.

UK

• Collin, J.E. 1943b. The British species of Helomyzidae (Diptera). Entomologist's monthly Magazine 79: 234-251.

Nearctic

• Gill, G.D., 1962. The Heleomyzid flies of America north of Mexico(Diptera: Heleomyzidae). Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum, 113(3465): 495-603. Keys genera and species.
• Gill, G.D and B.V. Peterson, 1987.1989. Heleomyzidae, 973-980. In:McAlpine J. F., (ed.), Manual of Nearctic Diptera Vol. 2, Research Branch Agric. Canada, Monograph no. 28, IV + 675–1332. Keys genera and species.

Australasia

• McAlpine, D.K., 1985. The Australian genera of Heleomyzidae (Diptera: Schizophora) and a reclassification of the family into tribes. Records of the Australian Museum, 36: 203–251.

Images

SeeDiptera.info

Species lists

• West Palaearctic including Russia
• Nearctic
• Australasian/Oceania
• Japan