Vol 10 Part 14. An introduction to the immature stages of British Flies ...

Aenigmatias on ants), Syrphidae (Microdon, ants; Volucella, wasps), Sphaeroceridae,
Milichiidae (ants), Braulidae (honey-bees), Sarcophagidae (Miltogramminae, wasps
and bees), Fanniidae, Muscidae.
Birds' nests (useful references: Hicks, 1959, 1963a, 1971; Woodroffe, 1953): Scatopsidae,
Chironomidae (Bryophaenocladius nitidico/lis (Goetghebuer)), Scenopinidae,
Phoridae, Chyromyidae, Piophilidae (Neottiophilinae), Carnidae, Heleomyzidae,
Trixoscelidae, Sphaeroceridae, Fanniidae, Muscidae (some Helina, Hydrotaea, Muscina,
Ophyra), Anthomyiidae (Anthomyia), Sarcophagidae, Calliphoridae (especially
Protoca/liphora, Calliphora), Hippoboscidae.
Mammal burrows and nests (useful references: Hackman, 1967; Hutson, in
Stubbs & Chandler, 1978): Heleomyzidae, Sphaeroceridae, Phoridae, Camillidae,
Sciaridae.
Fuller lists of rea rings ofDiptera from nests are given in the references cited. Careful
work is still needed on the ecology of nest-frequenting Diptera. E. B. Basden's extensive
collection ofDiptera from nests is available for study in the Royal Museum of Scotland
(see Rotheray, 1989 for summary).
Plant feeders. The larval stages of many Diptera are described in the literature as
living in and feeding on 'decaying vegetation'-a category not specifically included in
this Handbook, except for dead wood. However, many terrestrial (some aquatic larvae
feed on algae and mosses) species feed on the living tissues of plants in specific ways as
listed below. Records marked with a need further investigation or confirmation.
Larvae of agricultural importance are treated more fully in the section so titled.
Surface leaf feeders: Tipulidae (Cylindrotominae, mosses), Mycetophilidae (Boletina,
liverworts; Gnoriste, mosses; Docosia, lichens), Rhagionidae (Ptiolina on mosses).
Leaf-miners: Cecidomyiidae (some Lestremiinae, liverworts; higher plants),
Chironomidae, Sciaridae (Phytosciara on Ranunculus), Rhagionidae (Spania nigra
Meigen, liverworts), Dolichopodidae (Thrypticus, in stems), Syrphidae (some Cheilosia),
Agromyzidae, Tephritidae (some), Anthomyzidae (Anagnota, Paranthomyza),
Lauxaniidae, Psilidae, Drosophilidae (Scaptomyza), Ephydridae, Scathophagidae,
Anthomyiidae (especially Pegomya). Mines caused by Diptera (unlike other orders)
show primary and secondary feeding tracks causing a characteristic herring-bone pattern
and linear mines have the frass lying alternately on the two sides (Hering, 1951);
this is because mining Diptera larvae feed on their sides, facing first one direction, then
the other.
Gall-formers: Cecidomyiidae, Tephritidae, Lauxaniidae (Calliopum, clover and
Viola), Chloropidae (Lipara, reeds; Chlorops pumilionis Bjerkander, barley).
Many other Diptera larvae feed in stems, roots, flowers, seeds and fruits, some of
which are of economic importance (see section on Agricultural Importance). Uffen &
Chandler (in Stubbs & Chandler, 1978) list the Diptera associated with the higher
plants. Teskey (1976) gives an account of Diptera larvae associated with trees (in
North America), including those developing in sap exudates. Kitching (1971) deals
specifically with the insect fauna of tree rot-holes (see index also).
Fungi. The larval Diptera found in fungi have been the subject of some detailed
studies (Buxton, 1960; Smith, 1956; Trifourkis, 1977). Chandler (in Stubbs &
Chandler, 1978) lists in detail the known fungus associations of British Diptera, which
involve larvae of the following families: Trichoceridae, Tipulidae, Psychodidae, Ceratopogonidae,
Chironomidae, Anisopodidae, Mycetophilidae, Sciaridae, Scatopsidae,
Cecidomyiidae, Scenopinidae, Empididae (as predators), Dolichopodidae, Phoridae,
Platypezidae, Syrphidae (some Cheilosia), Platystomatidae, Dryomyzidae, Heleomyzidae,
Sepsidae, Lauxaniidae, Sphaeroceridae, Lonchaeidae, Piophilidae, Odiniidae,
Asteiidae, Drosophilidae, Chloropidae, Tachinidae (as parasites of Lepidoptera
(Tineidae)), Anthomyiidae, Fanniidae, Muscidae (as predators).
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