SBBG Lompoc SWP Floral Visitor Guide

The Calliphoridae (commonly known as blow flies, blow-flies, carrion flies, bluebottles, greenbottles, or cluster flies) are a family of insects in the order Diptera, with 1,100 known species. The maggot larvae, often used as fishing bait, are known as gentles. The family is known to be polyphyletic, but much remains disputed regarding proper treatment of the constituent taxa, some of which are occasionally accorded family status (e.g., Beng less ↑

The Tachinidae are a large and variable family of true flies within the insect order Diptera, with more than 8,200 known species and many more to be discovered. Over 1300 species have been described in North America alone. Insects in this family commonly are called tachina flies or simply tachinids. As far as is known, they all are protelean parasitoids, or occasionally parasites, of arthropods. less ↑

The Tephritidae are one of two fly families referred to as fruit flies, the other family being the Drosophilidae. The Tephritidae family does not include the biological model organisms of the genus Drosophila (in the family Drosophilidae), which is often called the "common fruit fly". Nearly 5,000 described species of tephritid fruit fly are categorized in almost 500 genera of the Tephritidae. Description, recategorization, and genetic analyses are constantly changing the tax less ↑

The Conopidae, usually known as the thick-headed flies, are a family of flies within the Brachycera suborder of Diptera. Flies of the family Conopidae are distributed worldwide in all the ecozones except for the poles and many of the Pacific islands. About 800 species in 47 genera are described worldwide, about 70 of which are found in North America. The majority of conopids are black and yellow, or black and white, and often strikingly resemble wasps,... less ↑

The family Mythicomyiidae, commonly called mythicomyiids, are very tiny flies (0.5–5.0 mm) found throughout most parts of the world, especially desert and semidesert regions, except the highest altitudes and latitudes. They are not as common in the tropics, but genera such as Cephalodromia and Platypygus are known from these regions. Many of these "microbombyliids" have humpbacked thoraces and lack the dense vestiture common in the Bombyliidae. Mythicomyiids have until recently not less ↑