Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
2. Family CERATOPOGONIDAE
(biting midges)
'bites' on man and on farm animals such as
horses. Larvae are aquatic.
EXAMPLE:
Simulium reptans
(common black
fly).
Minute or small flies with piercing mouthparts
and (in males) plumose or (in females) pilose
antennae; ocelli absent; wings held flat over the
body when in repose. Adults of some species
suck the blood of vertebrates and cause consid-
erable irritation to man and to farm animals.
Larvae aquatic.
EXAMPLE:
Culicoides
spp. (biting midges).
5. Family BIBIONIDAE (St. Mark's flies)
(p. 165
et seq.)
Robust-bodied, often strongly pubescent flies;
antennae arising form below the eyes
(Fig.
83), 8-
to 16-segmented but usually shorter than thorax;
wings large, with strong anterior veins
(Fig.
84);
ocelli present. Larvae cylindrical, with a con-
spicuous head, well-developed mouthparts and
often with distinct fleshy processes on the body
(Fig. 85); spiracles often distinct. Larvae are par-
ticularly abundant in soil with a high organic
content, and are sometimes damaging to the
underground parts of plants.
EXAMPLES:
Bibio hortulanus
3. Family CHIROMOMIDAE
(non-biting midges)
Small, short-lived, gnat-like flies with the
mouthparts poorly developed; thorax distinctly
humped and often obscuring the head; antennae
plumose in male, pilose in female; ocelli absent;
forelegs often elongated. Larvae aquatic or in-
habiting decaying organic matter.
EXAMPLE:
Metriocnemus hirticollis
(the larvae
of which are often contaminants in consign-
ments of harvested watercress).
(March fly),
Dilophus febrilis
(fever fly).
4. Family SIMULIIDAE (black flies)
Minute, stout-bodied, short-legged, blood-
sucking flies with piercing mouthparts; wings
broad with thickened anterior veins; antennae
11-segmented; ocelli absent. Some species are of
considerable local significance, inflicting painful
Fig. 83 Head of a St. Mark's fly - family Bibionidae.
Fig.
82 A leatherjacket - family Tipulidae: (a)
papillae at tip of abdomen.
Fig. 84 Wing of a St. Mark's fly - family Bibionidae.
