Diptera - Flies of North America

Order Diptera - Flies of North America
Insect order Diptera (true flies, two-winged flies) Live adult flies, photographed in the wild.
Families represented include: Anthomyiidae, Bibionidae, Syrphidae, Tachinidae, Tipulidae, Bombyliidae, Sciomyzidae, Stratiomyidae, Dolichopodidae, Calliphoridae, Scathophagidae, Sarcophagidae, Conopidae, Culicidae, Asilidae, Heleomyzidae, Micropezidae, Tabanidae, Psychodidae, Psilidae, Sepsidae, Hybotidae. --Table of Contents--

Early Spring cluster flies, Pollenia sp. feeding on tree sap. Female at top, male below.

Soldier Fly	Bee Flies Family Bombyliidae	Green Bottle Fly	Flesh Fly Sarcophaga sp.
Deer Fly Chrysops callidus	Stilt-legged Fly Family Micropezidae	Bee Fly - Villa sp.	Tachinid Fly - Gymnocheta sp.
Long Legged Fly Family Dolichopodidae	Marsh Fly Family Sciomyzidae	Sun Fly Amoebaleria helvola	Horse Fly Family Tabanidae

True flies are insects of the Order Diptera (Greek: di = two, and pteron = wing), possessing a single pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax. The common housefly is a true fly and is one of the most widely distributed animals.

The presence of a single pair of wings distinguishes true flies from other insects with "fly" in their name, such as mayflies, dragonflies, damselflies, stoneflies, whitefly, fireflies, alderflies, dobsonflies, snakeflies, sawflies, caddisflies, butterflies or scorpionflies. Some true flies have become secondarily wingless, especially in the superfamily Hippoboscoidea, or among those that are inquilines in social insect colonies.

It is a large order, containing an estimated 240,000 species of mosquitos, gnats, midges and others, although under half of these (about 120,000 species) have been described [1]. It is one of the major insect orders both in terms of ecological and human (medical and economic) importance. The Diptera, in particular the mosquitoes (Culicidae), are of great importance as disease transmitters, acting as vectors for malaria, dengue, West Nile virus, yellow fever and other infectious diseases.

Tachinid Fly - Juriniopsis sp.
NEW Tachinid Fly - Juriniopsis sp.

Flies are prevalent in virtually all habitats, with over 16,000 species in North America. Flies can be distinguished from all other insects in that they only have one pair of normal wings. The other pair has evolved into small ball-like structures called halteres, thought to be used as stabilizing organs during flight. Most flies have compound eyes and mouthparts adapted for piercing, lapping or sucking fluids. Flies exhibit complete metamorphosis. Flies are some of the most deadly carriers of disease; millions still die from mosquito-carried malaria every year; countless thousands fall victim to yellow fever, typhoid and dysentery, all caused by fly-born bacteria. On the other hand, flies are important pollinators, scavengers, and parasites of other harmful insects.

Syrphid Flies Family Syrphidae	Robber Flies Family Asilidae	Tachinid Flies Family Tachinidae	Black Scavenger Fly Family Sepsidae
Hybotid Dance Fly, Platypalpus sp.	Long Legged Fly	Blow Fly - Family Calliphoridae	Syrphid Fly - Spilomyia sp.

There are over 1500 species of crane fly (Family Tipulidae) in North America. These flies resemble giant mosquitos but do not bite or sting. The people of Scandinavia and Great Britain call them daddy long legs. They are most often found near water, sometimes in great numbers. I often see springtime swarms of these delicate creatures alongside my pond.

Horse and deer flies (family Tabanidae) are unusual in the fly kingdom: their flight can be nearly silent. They are famous for landing on exposed skin and delivering a painful bite. I can tell you from bitter experience, these flies can take a licking as well. I have delivered many a brutal slap to these creatures, only to watch in wonder as they get up and fly away. Only females bite; the males feed mainly on nectar and pollen at flowers. Adults are most common around ponds, streams and marshes, where their larvae live in shallow water or moist soil.

Flesh Fly Family Sarcophagidae	Family Psilidae - Rust Flies	Fruit Fly Procecidochares atra	Syrphid Fly Mallota sp.	Picture Winged Fly Callopistromyia strigula
Fruit Fly Strauzia sp.	March Fly, Dilophus sp. Family Bibionidae	Cluster Fly - Pollenia sp.	Thick-headed Fly - Physocephala tibialis	Root Maggot Fly
Female Mosquito, Aedes taeniorhynchus, ingesting human blood meal. Mosquitoes have killed more humans than all other insects combined.

Crane Fly Tipula furca	Crane Fly Gnophomyia tristissima	Crane Fly Tipula dorsimacula	Crane Fly Erioptera cana
Crane Fly Epiphragma fasciapenne	Crane Fly Tipula sp.	Crane Fly Tipula caloptera	Crane Fly Epiphragma solatrix

Crane Fly
T. submaculata

Tachinid Fly
Adejeania vexatrix

The blow flies, (family Calliphoridae) especially the bluebottle and greenbottle, lay their eggs almost exclusively in dead or rotting flesh. They are usually the first insects attracted to a fresh carcass, sometimes within minutes of death; they are attracted by the organic odors of decomposition The eggs are most often laid around natural body orifices or open wounds, and the larvae molt and pupate at predictable rates for any given temperature and humidity condition; it is for these reasons the blowflies are so important in forensic pathology. Maggots (larvae) and pupariums (the hollow cases left behind after the adult fly emerges) collected from a body can be used to determine, sometimes very accurately, the time of death.

Almost always, the compound eyes of Diptera are larger in the males, often so large they make contact with each other at the top. Males need this visual advantage for locating females and detecting rivals. In the predatory flies, the upper front part of the compound eyes is composed of larger facets specialized for tracking the flight of their prey. Predators also tend to have peripheral, simple eyes called ocelli in addition to their compound eyes, but the crane flies, for instance, lack these ocelli.

Horse Fly (Family Tabanidae, subfamily Tabaninae) Hybomitra sp.

Aristotle named this insect order Diptera (Greek for "two wing"). It has over 86,000 described species, with about 16,300 living in North America. The antennae range from short, 3-segmented organs to long, threadlike structures; they are feathery in midges and mosquitos, clubbed in mydas flies. Some blood-sucking flies are carriers of diseases such as malaria and yellow fever. Other flies that feed on various unsanitary substances (carrion, feces) can carry pathogenic bacteria that cause typhoid and dysentery. On the positive side, many flies are valuable as pollinators of flowers, many serve as important scavengers: their larvae, known as maggots help recycle carrion quickly.

Other flies serve as food for wildlife, and still others are important parasites of many insect pests. Identification of most flies involves attention to crucial details as wing venation, the presence of setae in certain areas, the presence or absence of certain abdominal segments, and the structure of the genitalia. I've noticed flies most often in competition with the hymenoptera for valuable flower nectar and pollen.

Conopid Fly Family Conopidae	Inland Floodwater Mosquito Aedes vexans	Cool Weather Mosquito Culiseta incidens	Fruit Fly Euaresta aequalis
Picture-winged Fly Tritoxa incurva	Dance Fly Family Empididae	Bee Fly Aldrichia sp.	Tachinid Fly Archytas sp.
Snipe Fly Chrysopilus sp.	Drain Fly Family Psychodidae	Tachinid Fly Phasiinae sp.	Picture-wing Fly Delphinia picta
Heleomyzid Fly, Suillia sp.	Bee Fly, Lepidophora sp.	Bee Fly, Family Bombyliidae	Snipe Fly, Family Rhagionidae