| Sepsidae | |
|---|---|
| Sepsis fulgens (lesser dung fly) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Suborder: | Brachycera |
| Subsection: | Acalyptratae |
| Superfamily: | Sciomyzoidea |
| Family: | Sepsidae |
| Genera[1] | |
|
Decachaetophora |
|
Sepsidae are a family of flies, commonly called the black scavenger flies or ensign flies. There are approximately 250 species worldwide. They are usually found around dung or decaying plant and animal material. Many species resemble ants having a "waist" and glossy black body. Many Sepsidae have a curious wing-waving habit made more apparent by dark patches at the wing end.
Many species have a very wide distribution, reflecting the coprophagous habit of most Sepsidae. Some species have been spread over large territories in association with livestock. Adult flies are found mostly on animal and human excrement (less often on other rotting organic matter), where eggs are laid and larvae develop, and on nearby vegetation, carrion, fermenting tree sap, and shrubs and herbs.
Many Sepsidae apparently play an important biological role as decomposers of animal excrement. Some species may have a limited hygienic importance because of their association with human feces. Others are useful tools in forensic entomology.
Contents |
This list may be incomplete.
This work is partly out of date but still the only review of world genera.
A very well illustrated guide to all 57 species from 11 genera of Sepsidae flies occurring in Russia, with keys to adults and pre-imaginal stages, and accounts concerning anatomy, phylogeny and distribution.
| External identifiers for Sepsidae | |
|---|---|
| EOL | 9009 |
| ITIS | 144975 |
| NCBI | 137503 |
| Also found in: [//species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Sepsidae Wikispecies] | |