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Family HELOSCIOMYZIDAE Steyskal, 1965


Compiler and date details

2010 - Scott Ginn, Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia

2007 - R. Johnson, data taken from Evenhuis, N.L. Catalog of the Diptera of the Australasian and Oceanian Regions (accessed 2007)

Introduction

Helosciomyzidae is a small family of flies. Worldwide, there are 22 species described from nine genera. With the exception of one genus, comprising two species from South America, all other known species are found only within the Australasian region. Sixteen species from five genera are known from Australia.

Little is known about the life histories of species in this family. Typical habitats are forest and swamps margins, with one species Cobergius vittatus known to have a maritime distribution. Larvae have been associated with dead insects, ant larvae, and seabird carcasses.

Steyskal and Knutson ([1979]) contains several species descriptions. Barnes (1981) published a review of the subfamily Helosciomyzinae, elevating it to family rank and provided a key to the family. Other important lilerature include Hendel (1917) creating the genus Helosciomyza, and McAlpine (1992) defining the oldest species of Heliosciomyzidae. McAlpine (2012) described 10 new species and gave new distribution records for several others.

 

History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
21-Jun-2013 21-Jun-2013 MODIFIED
15-Dec-2010 15-Dec-2010 MODIFIED
13-Sep-2010 13-Sep-2010 MODIFIED
12-Feb-2010 (import)