Lauxaniidae

What do flies do?

SCHIZOPHORA

BRACHYCERA

CALYPTRATAE

TEPHRITOIDEA

SCIOMYZOIDEA

LAUXANIOIDEA

EPHYDROIDEA

TABANOMORPHA

ASILOIDEASTRATIOMYOMORPHA

BIBIONO-MORPHA

PSYCHODO-MORPHA

CYCLO-RRHAPHA

EMPI-DOIDEA

Hilarimorphidae

Finding the Fly Tree of Life

Ironomyiidae(ironic flies)

Nannodastiidae

Braulidae(bee lice)

Somatiidae

Marginidae

Canacidae(beach flies)

Syringogastridae

Neminidae(nobody flies)

Inbiomyiidae

Cypselosomatidae

Ulidiidae(picture-winged

flies)

Ctenostylidae

Neurochaetidae(upside-down

flies)

Strongylophthalmyiidae

Xenasteiidae

Australimyzidae

Anthomyzidae

Megamerinidae

Teratomyzidae(fern flies)

Gobryidae

Huttoninidae

FLIES & FLY DIVERSITY

Nothybidae

Tephritidae(true fruit flies)

Psilidae(rust flies)

Fergusoninidae(eucalypt gall flies)

Pantophthalmidae

Agromyzidae(leaf-mining flies)

Opomyzidae

Acartophthalmidae

Platypezidae(flat-footed flies)

Milichiidae(freeloader flies)

Sepsidae(ant-like scavenger flies)

Fanniidae(small house flies)

Blephariceridae(net-winged

midges)

Mystacinobiidae(New Zealand

bat flies)

Glossinidae(tsetse flies)

Coelopidae(seaweed flies)

Photo Credits: www.bugguide.net: Tom Murray (live shots, 55 families); Stephen Luk (Dixidae, Chamaemyiidae, Pipunculidae); Andrew Gale (Neriidae); Gayle & Jeanell Strickland (Calliphoridae, Sciomyzidae, Tanyderidae, Muscidae); Gary McDonald (Carnidae, Scatopsidae); Phillip Kline (Oestridae); Kevin Hall (Pachyneuridae); Lynn & Gene Monroe (Granite Ridge Nature Institute) (Apioceridae); Steve Kortum (Nemestrinidae); Edward Trammel (Acroceridae, Culicidae, Syrphidae, Xylomyidae); Ilona Loser (Anthomyzidae); Lynette Schimming (Platypezidae); Keith Bayless (NCSU) (Ropalomeridae, Richardiidae); Shaun Winterton (Apystomyiidae, Apsilocephalidae, Scenopinidae); Mike Boone (Pyrgotidae); www.diptera.info: Jorge Almeida (Phaeomyiidae, Helcomyzidae, Hippoboscidae); Dmitry Gavrushin (Canthyloscelidae); Vida van der Walt (Curtonotidae); Albert de Wilde (Heterocheilidae); Takeyuki Nakamura (Nymphomyiidae); Ramon Batlle (Vermileonidae); Ben Hamers (Opetiidae, Tanypezidae); Arthur Anker (Pantophthalmidae); Walter Pfliegler (Thaumaleidae); other sources: Karsten Sund (www.sciaroidea.info) (Ditomyiidae, Diadocidiidae); Alex Wild (www.myrmecos.net) (Cryptochaetidae, Odiniidae, Piophilidae); Matt Bertone (NCSU) (Chaoboridae, Lauxaniidae, Micropezidae, Rhinophoridae, Tabanidae); Alessandra Rung (Cal. Dept. Food & Agric.) (Aulacigastridae); Robert Copeland (ICIPE) (Mormotomyiidae); David McClenaghan (CSIRO Entomology) (Pelecorrhynchidae); Rod Morris, New Zealand Geographic (www.nzgeographic.co.nz) (Mystacinobiidae); www.munisanignacio.gob.pe (Tachiniscidae); Isaac Winkler (NCSU) (remaining specimen shots); from published literature: D.K. McAlpine (1997) Rec. Australian Mus. 49:167-194 (Gobryidae); Jaschhof & Didham (2002) Studia Dipt. Suppl. 11(Rangomaramidae); Colless (1990) Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr. 26:351-353 (Valeseguyidae); Geoffrey Attardo (2008) PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2(3) (Glossinidae); Nadine Maynard, Zloty et al. (2005) Syst. Entomol. 30:248-266 (Oreoleptidae); Jill Marie Mullett, Yeates et al. (2003) Syst. Entomol. 28:417-431 (Evocoidae); F. Zeledón, Buck (2006) Syst. Entomol. 31:377-404 (Inbiomyiidae).

Asteiidae

Lonchaeidae(lance flies) Carnidae

Micropezidae(stilt-legged flies)

Aulacigastridae

Periscelididae

Neriidae(cactus flies)

decomposers

fungi

living plants

predators

invertebrateparasitoids

vertebrateparasites

aquatic

LARVAE: ADULTS:

pollinators

blood-feeding

predators

vertebrateparasites

When you think of a "fly," chances are you picture one of only a few common pest species: perhaps the house fly (Musca domestica), the laboratoryfruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), or the malaria mosquito (Anopheles gambiae). In fact, there are over 154,000 known species of flies, most of which are rarely noticed by a

casual observer, and never bother humans. They are found nearly everywhere on earth, from Antarctica to the rain forest. Please take a minute to explore the fascinating diversity of flies.

What is a fly? Flies make up the order Diptera, meaning "two wings"; nearlyall other insects have four wings. "Higher" flies (Brachycera) havea highly developed flight mechanism, and some of these (such ashorse flies) are among the fastest and most agile insects in flight. Unlike other insects, adult flies cannot chew their food. Instead, their mouthparts are modified for either piercing and sucking (to feed on blood or nectar), or sponging (to lap up fluids). Fly larvae(maggots) are also distinctive in having no legs, and most alsohave no visible head. Apart from these basic features, flies comein a many different colors, shapes, and sizes.

The great biological diversity of flies makes them important to man andnature in many different ways. Although we may be disgusted by fliesbreeding in our waste and filth, they have a very important role as decomposers in nature. Others are serious agricultural pests, feeding on crops and livestock, or are beneficial parasites and predators of unwanted pests. In addition, flies serve as pollinators. Many plants, including cacao (the source of chocolate), are dependent on fly pollinators. Some flies do deservetheir bad name - bloodsucking flies such as mosquitoes serve as vectors for dangerous diseases, including malaria, yellow fever, and leishmaniasis, and are responsible for millions of deaths annually.

Dipterists (scientists who study flies) classify flies into about150 different families. Each of these has its own unique structureand way of life. The first flies appeared over 250 million years ago,before the time of the dinosaurs, and looked much like modern craneflies, but biggest "explosion" of fly diversity (especially in the group Schizophora) has happened in the last 70 million years. Possible relationships between fly families are shown on this phylogeny ("familytree"), based on new research by an international team of dipterists. Bycomparing anatomical structure and DNA sequences from each of the fly families, we are learning exciting new details about the evolution of flies.

The importance of flies Fly evolution

Poster: Isaac Winkler, North Carolina State University, Sept. 2011 (ver. 4)

This research was performed by the FLYTREE consortium, an international collaboration led by Brian Wiegmann (NC State University). Funding provided by the US National Science Foundation (EF-0334948)For more information, see: www.inhs.illinois.edu/research/FLYTREEWiegmann et al. (2011) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1012675108

Helosciomyzidae

Natalimyzidae

XylophagidaeXylomyidae

Apioceridae

Asilidae(robber flies)

Pallopteridae(flutter flies)

PyrgotidaeTachiniscidae

Chamaemyiidae(silver flies)

Phaeomyiidae

Sciomyzidae(marsh flies)

Phoridae(scuttle flies)

Pipunculidae(big-headed flies)

Cryptochetidae

Bombyliidae(bee flies)

Acroceridae(small-headed flies)

Mydidae(mydas flies)

Nemestrinidae(tangle-veined flies)

Empididae(dance flies)

Syrphidae(flower flies)

Celyphidae(beetle flies)

Piophilidae(skipper flies)

Chyromyidae

Helcomyzidae

Diopsidae(stalk-eyed flies)

Ephydridae(shore flies)

SCIAROIDEA

Opetiidae

Chloropidae(grass flies)

Curtonotidae(quasimodo flies)

Drosophilidae(vinegar flies)

Dryomyzidae

Muscidae(house flies)

Cecidomyiidae(gall midges)

Platystomatidae(signal flies)

Ropalomeridae

Sarcophagidae(flesh flies)

3094spp.

Stratiomyidae(soldier flies)

Tipulidae (crane flies)

Mormotomyiidae

350spp.

4711spp.

3spp.

384spp.

606spp.

8spp.

23spp.

7spp.

Nymphomyiidae

7spp.

15214spp.

Trichoceridae(winter crane flies)

160spp.

Ptychopteridae(phantom crane flies)

74spp.

Chaoboridae(phantom midges)

57spp.

Dixidae(meniscus midges)

186spp.

Thaumaleidae(seepage midges)

182spp.

Psychodidae(moth flies, sand flies)

2958spp.

Tanyderidae(primitive crane flies)

38spp.

Canthyloscelidae

16spp.

Axymyiidae

6spp.

Perissomatidae

5spp.

Corethrellidae(frog midges)

104spp.

324spp.

Valeseguyidae

1spp.

Scatopsidae(minute black

scavenger flies)

390spp.

Anisopodidae(wood gnats)

159spp.

Bibionidae(march flies)

760spp.

Pachyneuridae

5spp.

Rangomaramidae

32spp.

6187spp.

Lygistorrhinidae

33spp.

Ditomyidae

94spp.

Keroplatidae(predaceous

fungus gnats)

945spp. Bolitophilidae

59spp.

Mycetophilidae(fungus gnats)

4164spp.

2666spp.

134spp.

20spp.

136spp.

32spp. 392

spp.

5309spp.

146spp.

277spp.

483spp.

7479spp.

Evocoidae

1spp.

Apsilocephalidae

4spp.

Therevidae(stiletto flies)

1131spp.

Scenopinidae(window flies)

417spp.

Rhagionidae(snipe flies)

711spp.

Oreoleptidae

1spp.

Vermileonidae(worm lions)

60spp.

Pelecorhynchidae

50spp.

Athericidae(watersnipe flies)

124spp.

Tabanidae(horse flies)

4450spp.

Atelestidae

11spp.

Brachystomatidae

147spp.

3052spp.

Apystomyiidae

1spp.

Lonchopteridae(spear-winged flies)

63spp.

252spp.

4spp.

3spp.

4105spp.

1420spp.

6016spp.

47spp.

Tanypezidae

21spp.

Heleomyzidae(sun flies)

728spp.

5spp.

138spp.

11spp.

90spp.

136spp.

20spp.

32spp.

70spp.

14spp.

5spp.

2880spp. 13

spp.

93spp.

2977spp.

Diastatidae

48spp.

Camillidae

40spp.

Odiniidae

64spp.

321spp.

278spp.

1spp.

33spp.

1992spp.

9spp.

4003spp.

64spp.

Oestridae(bot flies)

190spp.

Rhinophoridae(woodlouse flies)

174spp.

Tachinidae

9622spp.

Anthomyiidae(root maggots)

1927spp.

Hippoboscidae(louse & bat flies)

781spp.

OESTROIDEA

23spp.

359spp.

5210spp.

Clusiidae(druid flies)

360spp.

59spp.

8spp.

Calliphoridae(blow flies)

1898spp.

Scathophagidae(dung flies)

414spp.

34spp.

1spp.

12spp.

25spp.

3spp.

1spp.

Conopidae(thick-headed flies)

783spp.

1896spp.

Heterocheilidae

2spp.

350spp.

115spp.

35spp.

675spp. 66

spp.

10spp.

1162spp.

504spp.

Richardiidae

175spp.

82spp.

33spp.

112spp.

3spp.

579spp.

15spp.

320spp.

7spp.

191spp.

10spp.

8spp.

5spp.

Diadocidiidae

34spp.

29spp.

Dolichopodidae(long-legged flies)

7236spp.

Hybotidae

1971spp.

Sphaeroceridae(small dung flies)

1568spp.

Chironomidae(common midges)

7054spp.

Simuliidae(black flies)

2079spp.

Culicidae (mosquitoes)

3685spp.

Ceratopogonidae(biting midges)

5644spp.

CULICO-MORPHA

Deuterophlebiidae(mountain midges)

14spp.

Sciaridae(dark-winged fungus gnats)

2302spp.