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The male genital and pregenital skeleton and musculature were studied in males of the following species of the Muscidae subfamily Azeliinae: Drymeia firthiana (Huckett, 1965), Drymeia longiseta Sorokina & Pont, 2015, Drymeia segnis (Holmgren, 1883), Thricops nigritellus (Zetterstedt, 1838), Thricops hirtulus (Zetterstedt, 1838), Hydrotaea dentipes (Fabricius, 1805), Muscina stabulans (Fallén, 1817), and Muscina levida (Harris, 1780). Descriptions and figures of the genital sclerites and muscles of D. firthiana and M. stabulans are given. A comparison was made between the genital segments and muscles of previously studied species of Mydaeinae and Muscinae and those of the Azeliinae. Based on the structure of the skeleton and muscles of syntergosternite VII + VIII and the phallapodeme muscles, significant differences were found between the subfamily Azeliinae and the subfamilies Mydaeinae and Muscinae. The basal position of the Azeliinae within the family Muscidae was confirmed. A comparison of the genital segments and muscles of the Muscidae with those of the Scathophagidae (Scathophaga stercoraria (Linnaeus, 1758)) and Anthomyiidae (Delia platura (Meigen, 1826)) was made. Tendencies in reduction of the pregenital segments and musculature, as well as of the phallapodeme muscles in the evolution of the Muscoidea have been revealed. The complete set of phallapodeme muscles in the Scathophagidae and Anthomyiidae corresponds to the basal state, and therefore the structure of the genital sclerites and muscles in the Muscidae shows a certain degree of reduction. The progressive changes in the Muscidae from the Azeliinae through the Mydaeinae to the Muscinae were traced.

Aethiopomyia Malloch (Diptera, Muscidae) is a small genus with occurrence restricted to the Afrotropical region. Only five species are currently known in this genus: A. patersoni Zumpt, 1969, A. williamsi Snyder, 1951, A. arguta (Karsch, 1879), A. steini Curran, 1935, and A. gigas (Stein, 1906). All Aethiopomyia species are large, reaching up to 15 mm, as in A. patersoni and the most visible differences among them are based in the color pattern of the body. The species are mostly yellow, with a broad scutum and abdomen, males and females are dichoptic, the anepimeron is haired and they have stubby spines on the upper side of the palpi. Phylogenetically, Aethiopomyia, together with two other genera restricted to the Afrotropical region, Alluaudinella Giglio-Tos and Ochromusca Malloch, appear to form a monophyletic group, defined by the presence of the remarkably short stubby spines on the upper side of the palpi. Four species deposited in the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (Germany) were analyzed; three of them are types. Diagnosis for all species, colored illustrations, male dissections and illustrations and a key to separate them are presented herein.

A new species of Bithoracochaeta Stein, 1911 (Diptera, Muscidae), Bithoracochaeta couriae sp. nov., is described and illustrated. In addition, we present comments on all Mexican species of the genus, a brief description of hunting behavior of B. couriae sp. nov. and its possible use as a biological control agent of greenhouses pests.

Muscoidea, a large dipteran superfamily, occurs in all zoogeographic regions of the world and constitutes approximately 5% of the described dipteran diversity (Kutty et al. 2008). According to present knowledge, approximately 7,000 described species are recorded worldwide (Kutty et al. 2008) in four families, Muscidae, Fanniidae, Anthomyiidae and Scathophagidae. Faunistic studies that include adult flies of Muscoidea tend to focus on males in China (e.g. Fan 1992, Xue & Chao 1998), with the tacit assumption that they represent all the sampled species at the locality. Because many species have been described from males only, and even described females are often difficult or impossible to identify, the latter have suffered a general lack of taxonomic attention. Consequently, the focus on males in species inventories of adult flies of Muscoidea is understandable and not easily overcome. Nevertheless, recognising females in this group is very important, and is convenient not only for identifying species but for further phylogenetic studies. During recent years, we have been engaged in faunal studies of this group in China. While sorting and identifying Muscidae and Fanniidae from materials on loan from Shenyang Normal University, we found female specimens of Fannia imperatoria and Phaonia vagata from Liaoning and Shanxi respectively, which enables the first description of the females of these species in the present work. In addition, further morphological information of the females of the genera Fannia and Phaonia is provided.

Invasion of a living vertebrate animal by dipteran larvae is known as myiasis. Myiasis has great medical and veterinary importance since it affects humans as well as wild and domestic animals in developed and developing countries around the world. This relationship between parasite and host can be characterized by the degree to which the larvae depend on their host: accidental, facultative or obligatory. Known myiasis-causing flies are represented worldwide by a diversity of species included in 11 superfamilies and 16 families. Taxonomy, morphology, life history, ecology and behavior, public health and veterinary importance, prevention and control are described. The following four families of myiasis-producing species are discussed in detail due to their economic and medical-veterinary importance: Muscidae, Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae, and Oestridae. The latest approaches in application of myiasis control methods such as chemical, biological, sterile insect technique (SIT), and luring-trapping techniques are described.

The sheep ked Melophagus ovinus is mainly found in Europe, Northwestern Africa, and Asia. Although M. ovinus is an important ectoparasite of sheep in many countries, the population genetics, molecular biology, and systematics of this ectoparasite remain poorly understood. Herein, we determined the mitochondrial (mt) genome of M. ovinus from Gansu Province, China (MOG) and compared with that of M. ovinus Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China (MOX). The mt genome sequence (15,044 bp) of M. ovinus MOG was significantly shorter (529 bp) than M. ovinus MOX. Nucleotide sequence difference in the whole mt genome except for non-coding region was 0.37% between M. ovinus MOG and MOX. For the 13 protein-coding genes, comparison revealed sequence divergences at both the nucleotide (0-1.1%) and amino acid (0-0.59%) levels between M. ovinus MOG and MOX, respectively. Interestingly, the cox1 gene of M. ovinus MOX is predicted to employ unusual mt start codons AAA, which has not been predicted previously for any parasite genome. Phylogenetic analyses showed that M. ovinus (Hippoboscoidea) is related to the superfamilies Oestroidea + Muscoidea. Our results have also indicated the paraphylies of the four families (Anthomyiidae, Calliphoridae, Muscidae, and Oestridae) and two superfamilies (Oestroidea and Muscoidea). This mt genome of M. ovinus provides useful molecular markers for studies into the population genetics, molecular biology, and systematics of this ectoparasite.

New synonymies and new combinations are proposed, based mainly on the study of type materials. They are as follows: Helina sarmentosa Fang & Fan, 1993 = H. dianica Qian & Feng, 2005, syn. n.; Helina dianxiia Xue and Li, 2002 = H. aureolicolorata Feng & Xue, 2002, syn. n.; Myospila lenticeps (Thomson, 1869) = H. magnimaculata Feng, 1995, syn. n.; Spilogona angulisurstyla (Xue & Xiang, 1998), comb. n.; Spilogona apicicauda (Xue, Wang & Tong, 2003), comb. n.; Hebecnema arcuatiabdomina (Feng & Fan, 2001), comb. n.

The microbes Wolbachia and Spiroplasma are common reproductive parasites of arthropods and may strongly influence reproduction of infected hosts and also impact on reproductive isolation. Such infections could hence influence results of many studies assessing reproductive behaviour and fitness of possible hosts, as well as reproductive isolation. Previous work indicates that infections with the microbes Wolbachia and Spiroplasma are common in the Drosophilidae. However, extensive and targeted surveys of other Dipteran families are lacking. Here we survey the yellow dung fly Scathophaga stercoraria and a range of other species from the Muscoidea (families Scathophagidae, Anthomyiidae, Fanniidae and Muscidae) collected in the field or obtained from museum collections for infection with the widespread reproductive parasites Wolbachia and Spiroplasma. Both have been shown to be heritable symbionts and affect reproduction in other Diptera. S. stercoraria is a very important model for the study of sexual selection, and in particular of postcopulatory processes, as it has played a major role in the history of research on sperm competition and cryptic female choice. Infections with Wolbachia were found to be widespread across the Muscoidea, whereas infections with Spiroplasma were rarer. We discuss the consequences of these findings and directions for future research on the impact of reproductive parasites on host reproduction in the Scathophagidae.

Muscoidea is a significant dipteran clade that includes house flies (Family Muscidae), latrine flies (F. Fannidae), dung flies (F. Scathophagidae) and root maggot flies (F. Anthomyiidae). It is comprised of approximately 7000 described species. The monophyly of the Muscoidea and the precise relationships of muscoids to the closest superfamily the Oestroidea (blow flies, flesh flies etc) are both unresolved. Until now mitochondrial (mt) genomes were available for only two of the four muscoid families precluding a thorough test of phylogenetic relationships using this data source. Here we present the first two mt genomes for the families Fanniidae (Euryomma sp.) (family Fanniidae) and Anthomyiidae (Delia platura (Meigen, 1826)). We also conducted phylogenetic analyses containing of these newly sequenced mt genomes plus 15 other species representative of dipteran diversity to address the internal relationship of Muscoidea and its systematic position. Both maximum-likelihood and Bayesian analyses suggested that Muscoidea was not a monophyletic group with the relationship: (Fanniidae + Muscidae) + ((Anthomyiidae + Scathophagidae) + (Calliphoridae + Sarcophagidae)), supported by the majority of analysed datasets. This also infers that Oestroidea was paraphyletic in the majority of analyses. Divergence time estimation suggested that the earliest split within the Calyptratae, separating (Tachinidae + Oestridae) from the remaining families, occurred in the Early Eocene. The main divergence within the paraphyletic muscoidea grade was between Fanniidae + Muscidae and the lineage ((Anthomyiidae + Scathophagidae) + (Calliphoridae + Sarcophagidae)) which occurred in the Late Eocene.

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome sequenced and analyzed from a fly, Muscina angustifrons which collected from South Korea. The size of mitochondrial genome is 16,316 bp with 40.9% A, 12.3% C, 8.4% G and 38.4% T distribution. Furthermore, phylogenetic relationships of the superfamily Muscoidea evaluated due to mitochondrial protein coding genes. The results showed that the family Muscidae is a paraphyletic group and the closest species to M. angustifrons is M. levida. This is the third complete mitochondrial genome for the genus Muscina and the first genus record from South Korea.

The horn fly, Haematobiairritans is an obligate haematophagous cosmopolitan insect pest. The first reports of attacks on livestock by Haematobiairritans in Argentina and Uruguay occurred in 1991, and since 1993 it is considered an economically important pest. Knowledge on the genetic characteristics of the horn fly increases our understanding of the phenotypes resistant to insecticides that repeatedly develop in these insects. The karyotype of Haematobiairritans, as previously described using flies from an inbred colony, shows a chromosome complement of 2n=10 without heterochromosomes (sex chromosomes). In this study, we analyze for the first time the chromosome structure and variation of four wild populations of Haematobiairritans recently established in the Southern Cone of South America, collected in Argentina and Uruguay. In these wild type populations, we confirmed and characterized the previously published "standard" karyotype of 2n=10 without sex chromosomes; however, surprisingly a supernumerary element, called B-chromosome, was found in about half of mitotic preparations. The existence of statistically significant karyotypic diversity was demonstrated through the application of orcein staining, C-banding and H-banding. This study represents the first discovery and characterization of horn fly karyotypes with 2n=11 (2n=10+B). All spermatocytes analyzed showed 5 chromosome bivalents, and therefore, 2n=10 without an extra chromosome. Study of mitotic divisions showed that some chromosomal rearrangements affecting karyotype structure are maintained as polymorphisms, and multiple correspondence analyses demonstrated that genetic variation was not associated with geographic distribution. Because it was never observed during male meiosis, we hypothesize that B-chromosome is preferentially transmitted by females and that it might be related to sex determination. Fil: Forneris, Natalia Soledad. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomia; Argentina Fil: Otero, Gabriel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomia; Argentina Fil: Pereyra, Ana. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomia; Argentina Fil: Repetto, Gustavo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomia; Argentina Fil: Rabossi, Alejandro. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquimicas de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Fundación Instituto Leloir; Argentina Fil: Quesada Allue, Luis Alberto. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquimicas de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Fundación Instituto Leloir; Argentina Fil: Basso, Alicia L.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomia; Argentina

The complete mitochondrial genomes of Musca domestica (Muscidae) and Scathophaga stercoraria (Scathophagidae) are circular molecules of 16,108 bp and 16,223 bp in length, respectively. The first complete mitochondrial genome of Scathophagidae is reported here. Both genomes contain all 37 genes, including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and a large control region, with conserved arrangement pattern reported in all cyclorrhaphan flies. All PCGs start with standard ATN codons except for the CO1 which starts with TCG in both species. All PCGs terminate with the common stop codons TAA or TAG, except for the CO2 and ND5 in both species and ND4 in S. stercoraria which end with a single T.

The utility of a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) fragment of about 1100 bp (including partial COI and COII sequences and tRNALeu) for evolutionary studies in Muscoidea is discussed. The species investigated are Scathophaga stercoraria, Microprosopa pallidicauda and Trichopalpus fraterna (family Scathophagidae), Musca domestica (Muscidae), Lasiomma seminitidum (Anthomyiidae) and Fannia armata (Fanniidae). Comparisons were made with published mtDNA sequences of Drosophila, Anopheles and three Calliphoridae species. The molecular phylogeny obtained here matches the classical morphological taxonomy reasonably well. This varies considerably, however, at different taxonomical levels. At a high taxonomic level, there is a clear separation between the Nematocera and the Brachycera, but the Calyptratae-Acalyptratae division is not always supported. At a lower taxonomic level, all species belonging to the same family are well grouped, but at an intermediate level, within the Calyptratae, it is impossible to clearly separate the Muscoidea and Calliphoridae, preventing a firm conclusion on the phylogenetic relationships among Muscoidea families. The entire COI sequence of S. stercoraria, as well as other mtDNA sequences (including the proximal portions of the COI gene, tRNATrp, tRNACys and tRNATyr genes) in Muscoidea species, are also presented and discussed.

A study comparing the morphology of the proboscis of the following muscoid species is presented: Scatophaga stercoraria (Linnaeus, 1758) (Scatophagidae), Fannia canicularis (Linnaeus, 1761) (Fanniidae), Taenomyia auricollis Stein, 1918 (Anthomyiidae) and Phaonia valida (Harris, 1780) (Muscidae). Comparisons were made with Archiborborus sp. (Acalyptratae, Sphaeroceridae), Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (Oestroidea, Calliphoridae) and other muscids.

Hennig's holomorphology concept defines taxonomy as a process that synthesizes evidence from all relevant comparative sources. One possible source is metabolomics, in which the global metabolic profile is analyzed. An integral metabolic profile can be quickly obtained, nondestructively, through spectroscopy in the near infrared region. Here we use near infrared spectroscopy and chemometry to identify nine species of flies in the genus Neodexiopsis Malloch (Muscidae, Diptera). This genus is the most species-rich of the Muscoidea in the Neotropical region. Identification success demonstrates that near infrared spectroscopy may provide a new source of data to test and organize hypotheses of species delimitation. Comparing near infrared spectroscopy with DNA barcoding, spectroscopy may have even greater conceptual merit as a true barcode of life.

Adult flies may visit faeces to lay eggs or larvae, to feed, or to drink, in dry weather. Within the group of calyptrate flies without meral bristles (Muscoidea), species that breed in faeces show a significantly greater tendency to visit it than those species that breed in other media. Oestroidea (with meral bristles) do not show this tendency, ecological confirmation of the anatomical fact that calyptrates fall into at least two distinct natural groupings. Visiting faeces to drink seems unimportant for muscoids. The dung of semi-wild browsing cattle is visited by few calyptrate fly species and is only attractive for a short time.

Approximately 5% of the known species-level diversity of Diptera belongs to the Muscoidea with its approximately 7000 described species. Despite including some of the most abundant and well known flies, the phylogenetic relationships within this superfamily are poorly understood. Previous attempts at reconstructing the relationships based on morphology and relatively small molecular data sets were only moderately successful. Here, we use molecular data for 127 exemplar species of the Muscoidea, two species from the Hippoboscoidea, ten species representing the Oestroidea and seven outgroup species from four acalyptrate superfamilies. Four mitochondrial genes 12S, 16S, COI, and Cytb, and four nuclear genes 18S, 28S, Ef1a, and CAD are used to reconstruct the relationships within the Muscoidea. The length-variable genes were aligned using a guide tree that was based on the protein-encoding genes and the indel-free sections of the ribosomal genes. We found that, based on topological considerations, this guide tree was a significant improvement over the default guide trees generated by ClustalX. The data matrix was analyzed using maximum parsimony (MP) and maximum likelihood (ML) and yielded very similar tree topologies. The Calyptratae are monophyletic and the Hippoboscoidea are the sister group to the remaining calyptrates (MP). The Muscoidea are paraphyletic with a monophyletic Oestroidea nested within the Muscoidea as sister group to Anthomyiidae + Scathophagidae. The monophyly of three of the four recognized families in the Muscoidea is confirmed: the Fanniidae, Muscidae, and Scathophagidae. However, the Anthomyiidae are possibly paraphyletic. Within the Oestroidea, the Sarcophagidae and Tachinidae are sister groups and the Calliphoridae are paraphyletic.

Submitted by Guilherme Lemeszenski (guilherme@nead.unesp.br) on 2013-08-22T18:42:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 S1519-69842007000500020.pdf: 359866 bytes, checksum: 5f1ac8fa329772d2f5f0cab68aca7b13 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2013-08-22T18:42:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 S1519-69842007000500020.pdf: 359866 bytes, checksum: 5f1ac8fa329772d2f5f0cab68aca7b13 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-12-01 Made available in DSpace on 2013-09-30T19:29:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 S1519-69842007000500020.pdf: 359866 bytes, checksum: 5f1ac8fa329772d2f5f0cab68aca7b13 (MD5) S1519-69842007000500020.pdf.txt: 26869 bytes, checksum: b4730ac9354b300919f53785d1f63c21 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-12-01 Submitted by Vitor Silverio Rodrigues (vitorsrodrigues@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2014-05-20T15:08:08Z No. of bitstreams: 2 S1519-69842007000500020.pdf: 359866 bytes, checksum: 5f1ac8fa329772d2f5f0cab68aca7b13 (MD5) S1519-69842007000500020.pdf.txt: 26869 bytes, checksum: b4730ac9354b300919f53785d1f63c21 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-20T15:08:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 S1519-69842007000500020.pdf: 359866 bytes, checksum: 5f1ac8fa329772d2f5f0cab68aca7b13 (MD5) S1519-69842007000500020.pdf.txt: 26869 bytes, checksum: b4730ac9354b300919f53785d1f63c21 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-12-01 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) O número modal de cromossomos dos Dípteros Muscóideos é 2n = 12, incluindo cinco pares de autossomos e um par de cromossomos sexuais. No entanto, algumas espécies com 2n = 10 cromossomos já foram descritas, sendo todas pertencentes à família Muscidae. No presente trabalho, foram analisados os cariótipos de algumas espécies de Muscidae de diferentes subfamílias e os dados obtidos foram comparados com os cariótipos de algumas espécies das famílias Calliphoridae e Sarcophagidae. Comparações destas espécies com outras da família Muscidae revelaram uma considerável variação entre seus cromossomos sexuais. Esta variação no tamanho dos cromossomos sexuais sugere que parte destes cromossomos foram perdidos ou sofreram fusão com autossomos. As regiões de heterocromatina constitutiva e as regiões organizadoras de nucléolos (RONs) foram também analisadas e alguns aspectos sobre a relação destas com os cromossomos sexuais são discutidos. The chromosome modal number in Muscoidea Diptera is 2n = 12, including five pairs of autosomes and one sex chromosome pair. Nevertheless, some species with 2n = 10 chromosomes have been described, all of them from the Muscidae family. We analyzed the karyotype of some Muscidae species from different subfamilies and compared the obtained data with the karyotypes of some species of the families Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae. Comparisons of these species with other Muscidae species revealed a considerable variation among their sex chromosomes. This variation in the length of the sex chromosomes suggests that parts of these chromosomes were lost or fused with autosomes. The constitutive heterochromatic regions and the nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) were also analyzed and some aspects about the relationship between these regions and the sex chromosomes are discussed. Universidade Estadual Paulista Instituto de Biociências Departamento de Biologia Organogenesis Inc. Universidade Estadual Paulista Instituto de Biociências Departamento de Biologia

The study of recently collected Afrotropical Muscidae (Diptera) from Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya and South Africa has revealed ten new species which are described herein: Coenosia duomaculata sp. nov., C. nigromaculata sp. nov., C. fragilis sp. nov., Helina harrisorum sp. nov., H. ferfriniorum sp. nov., Hydrotaea tantula sp. nov., Limnophora diminuta sp. nov., L. antennalis sp. nov., Spilogona brunnea sp. nov. and S. bella sp. nov. Coenosia, Helina and Limnophora are speciose muscid genera, found throughout the Afrotropical Region, while Hydrotaea and Spilogona have a more restricted geographic distribution and include some 20 species each.

Linnaeus described eleven species in the genera Musca and Conops that are now placed in the Fanniidae, Anthomyiidae and Muscidae. A study is presented of the types and other material of these three families in his collection.

Larval fat body persists, as spherical particles, in most Diptera at the time of adult emergence. The present study and reports in the literature indicate its presence in 25 species of muscoid flies but not in the buffalo fly. the horn fly. or tsetse. In an investigation involving the dissection of female buffalo flies. Haematobia irritans e.xigua de Meijere. for age determination based on the state of the ovaries, it was found that even newly-emerged flies lacked the larval fat body characteristic of recently emerged specimens of other higher Diptera. This was taken as a possible indication of a special physiological feature in these economically important flies, and so further observations were made on the occurrence at adult emergence of larval fat body in other higher Diptera. Larval fat body, described and illustrated (as “‘pupal fat body’”) by Anderson (1964). is quite different from adult fat body. It consists of a large number of tiny, solid spheres, usually somewhat opalescent, lying loose in the abdominal haemocoel in both sexes. Following eclosion, decreasing amounts may be found for several days in the body of the adult fly. Once it has disappeared, similar fat body is not found again during the lifetime of the fly. The species known to have larval fat bodies persisting in the adult (Table) cover a wide taxonomic range in the Muscoidea. No remnants of the larval fat body are observed in the abdomen of newly-emerged H. i. exigua, though there may be a variable amount of normal adult fat body. The closely related horn fly, H. irritans irritans (L.) likewise lacks larval fat body at eclosion (R. L. Harris pers. comm.), nor is there any mention of larval fat body in the literature on tsetsef (Glossina Wiedemann), and P. A. Langley (pers. comm.) has confirmed from his own experience that it is not found in adult flies of this genus. Persistent larval fat body carries over various food reserves from larva to adult (Thomson 1975), and there is no clear indication as to why it should not persist in adult Haemalobia and Glossina. When found it occurs equally in both sexes, and its presence or absence is thus not likely to be connected with reproductive physiology. It is unlikely to be a reflection of any special features of larval nutrition, for although the Glossina larva is nourished entirely by the parent female, which has access to ample blood meals, the Haematobia larva lives in the dung of bovines. as do several other Muscidae in which larval fat bodies persist.