Family BIBIONIDAE Fleming, 1821

Bibionidae

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Family BIBIONIDAE Fleming, 1821

Compiler and date details

2011 - Updated by Judy King and Christine Lambkin, Queensland Museum

1999 - E.-M.E. Bugledich, CSIRO Entomology, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Introduction

The Bibionidae have the vernacular name of 'March flies' in some parts of the Northern Hemisphere, where the abundance of many species in Spring time brings them to public attention. Although some Australian species may be quite abundant as soil temperatures increase following winter, clearly in the Southern Hemisphere 'March' is a misnomer. The North American names of love bugs or harlequin flies are no more appropriate. The family is cosmopolitan, with some 700 extant species worldwide.

Adult Bibionidae are recognised by the presence of ocelli, and wing venational features, including the costa terminating close to the end of vein R4+5 near the wing tip, with two branches of M, no more than three branches of R and with two closed basal cells. The antennae of Australian taxa are anteriorly directed and rather short, comprising round, compact flagellomeres.

The immature stages of Bibionidae are found in soil, where the herbivorous larvae can cause damage to roots of grasses in pastures, and certain other crops. They feed also on rotting vegetative material, such as compost, manure and leaf litter, in which they can attain high densities. Larval Bibionidae have a protruding complete head capsule, lack prolegs, and are holopneustic, lacking spiracles only on segments 2 and 8.

The fossil record of the Bibionidae is impressive, with more species described than for any other family (some 344 in 12 genera). The oldest are compression fossils from the North American Upper Triassic, with amber records from the Upper Cretaceous.