Summary ³

The Phoridae are a family of small, hump-backed flies resembling fruit flies. Phorid flies can often be identified by their escape habit of running rapidly across a surface rather than taking to the wing. This behaviour is a source of one of their alternate names, scuttle fly. Another vernacular name, coffin fly, refers to Conicera tibialis. Approximately 4,000 species are known in 230 genera. The most well-known species is cosmopolitan Megaselia scalaris. At 0.4 mm in length,...

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Martin Cooper, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/m-a-r-t-i-n/12769306184/
2. (c) Jason M Crockwell, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), uploaded by Jason M Crockwell
3. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoridae

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Atlas of Living Australia
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Field/Photo ID for Flies
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• Systema Dipterorum

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