Cluster fly

Cluster flies
Male Pollenia sp.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Calliphoridae
Subfamily: Polleniinae
Genus: Pollenia
Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830
Type species
Musca rudis[1]
Fabricius, 1794
Species

See text

The cluster flies are the genus Pollenia in the blowfly family Calliphoridae. Unlike more familiar blowflies such as the bluebottle genus Phormia, they do not present a health hazard because they do not lay eggs in human food. They are strictly parasitic on earthworms; the females lay their eggs near earthworm burrows, and the larvae then infest the worms. However, the flies are a nuisance because when the adults emerge in the late summer or autumn they enter houses to hibernate, often in large numbers; they are difficult to eradicate because they favour inaccessible spaces such as roof and wall cavities. They are often seen on windows of little-used rooms. They are also sometimes known as attic flies.

The typical cluster fly Pollenia rudis is about 7 mm long and can be recognised by distinct lines or stripes behind the head, short golden-coloured hairs on the thorax, and irregular light and dark gray areas on the abdomen. Cluster flies are typically slow moving.

Cluster flies have a widespread distribution. Eight species are found in Britain and thirty one in Europe. Pollenia species are also numerous in Australia and New Zealand (over 30 spp); they are a common pest in North America. P. rudis has spread widely in association with humans.

Species

References

  1. ^ Sabrosky, Curtis W. (1999). "Family-Group Names in Diptera An annotated catalog". MYIA, The International Journal of the North American Dipterists' Society (Leidan: Backhuys Publishers) 10. http://www.sel.barc.usda.gov/diptera/people/FCT_pdf/FGNAMES.pdf. Retrieved 2008-05-31. 
  2. ^ Rognes, Dr Knut; Pape, Dr Thomas (19 April 2007). "Taxon details: Calliphoridae". Fauna Europaea version 1.1,. http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=10892. Retrieved 2008-05-31. 

External links