THE MUSCIDAE of CALIFORNIA Exclusive of Subfamilies Muscinae and Stomoxyinae
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I ’-, <, . ..:,’, BULLETIN OF THE CALIFORNIA INSECT SURVEY VOLUME 18 THE MUSCIDAE OF CALIFORNIA Exclusive of Subfamilies Muscinae and Stomoxyinae BY H. C. HUCKETT UNIVERSIN OF CALIFORNIA PRESS THE MUSCIDAE OF CALIFORNIA Exclusive of Subfamilies Muscinae and Stomoxyinae BULLETIN OF THE CALIFORNIA INSECT SURVEY VOLUME 18 THE MUSCIDAE OF CALIFORNIA Exclusive of Subfamilies Muscinae and Stomoxyinae BY H. C. HUCKETT (Long Island Vegetable Research Farm, Riverhead, New York) UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY LOS ANGELES LONDON BULLETIN OF THE CALIFORNIA INSECT SURVEY Advisory Editors: H. V. Daly, J. A. Powell, J. N. Belkin, R. M. Bohart, R. L. Doutt, D. P. Furman, J. D. Pinto, E. I. Schlinger, R. W. Thorp VOLUME 18 Approved for publication September 21, 1973 Issued May 2, 1975 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, LTD. LONDON, ENGLAND ISBN: 0-520-09508-1 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 73-620214 01975 By The Regents of the University of California Printed by Offset in the United States of America THE MUSCIDAE OF CALIFORNIA Exclusive of Subfamilies Muscinae and Stomoxyinae BY H. C. HUCKETT INTRODUCTION The following review of the Muscidae of California 12:2). However, it was decided to present the data was carried on concurrently with the recent survey more briefly for this volume, as follows. For of the family Anthomyiidae (Bull. Calif. Insect species with about 30 records or fewer, full data Surv., Vol. 12), to which the Muscidae are closely are given, sometimes supplemented by a map. For linked. The richness of the muscid fauna in Cali- species with more records, no raw data are given. fornia was much in evidence as indicated by the A statement summarizing biogeographical and sea- abundance of material made available for study. sonal patterns and usually a map of localities are Eldridge and James (1957) have already discussed provided. (Sometimes reference to a map of a re- the species belonging to the subfamilies Muscinae lated species with similar distribution suffices.) and S t omoxyinae , All maps and the seasonal geographical summaries The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebted- in this bulletin have been prepared by J. A. ness to those in charge of these collections for Powell, University of California, Berkeley. The assistance and cooperation, without which this sur- original data from specimens representing those vey would have been inordinately curtailed. The species for which data are not given in the text names of institutions and individuals that are on file with the California Insect Survey, have permitted the use of their material in this University of California, Berkeley, and can be made manner have been referred to in the text by abbre- available on request . viations already explained in the survey series The name Muscidae for the family as here treat- dealing with the Anthomyiidae of California ed supplants in part the name Anthomyiidae sens. (Nuckett , 1971). Zat. (Aldrich, 1905; Stein, 1907, 1919; Malloch, It was originally planned to treat collection 1918, 1920) and is restricted to those species data for the muscids in the same form as was done that are mentioned in which the wing vein 1st A + for the Anthomyiidae (see Bull. Calif. Insect Surv. Cuz (sixth long vein) in the imago or adult is ob- 1 2 BuLZetin of the California Insect Survey solescent or disappears before reaching the wing es, sedges, and herbage found in the locality, par- margin, as distinct from its continuity in the fam- ticularly that surrounding ponds and lakes, in swamps ily Anthomyiidae (Roback, 1951; Hennig, 1965; Stone or along coasts. Adults are known to be preda- et al., 1965). In this sense the family Muscidae ceous on nematocerous flies or even larger Diptera is strictly limited as apart from its adoption to as in the case of Coenosia tigrina (Fabricius). include both categories (Curran, 1934; SGguy, 1937; Larvae are recorded as living in humid soil in Malloch, 1921 as Muscaridae; Van Emden 1941; such areas, feeding on organic matter, or are zoo- Ringdahl, 1954; Huckett, 1965). Cole and Schlinger phagous. (19691, in their comprehensive treatise on the flies Adults of the genera Lispe, Lispaides, Spilo- of western North America, have classified the vari- gom, and Limophora are regarded as riparian in ous scatophagid, anthomyiid, and muscid aggregates their proclivities, frequenting rocks and vegeta- under the names Scatophagidae, Anthomyiidae, and tion beside streams, lakes, ponds, and rivers. A Muscidae respectively, retaining the latter name few are known to inhabit locations along the coast. for the concept of the family as adopted in large In many instances adults have been found to be pre- measure by Aldrich (1905) and Williston (1908), and daceous on nematocerous flies, and the larvae to in a more restricted sense by Brues, Melander, and be aquatic or semiaquatic, living in moss and algae Carpenter (1954). The Anthomyiidae and Muscidae may and pupating in the watery subsoil or shallows. both be separated from the remaining families of The genus Gymnodia in contrast is mainly copropha- Muscoidea by the absence of hypopleural bristles. gous; the adults frequent poultry yards and the The present survey of the Muscidae records the excrement of animals and man for purposes of ovi- presence of 36 genera, 7 subgenera, and 248'species position and larval nourishment. and subspecies. Species included in keys and text Species belonging to the subfamily Mydaeinae that are not recognized as occurring in California commonly occur in fields and woodlands where humid- have been marked with an asterisk. These have been ity is sustained and in habitats that range from mentioned because they may be found later to occur lowlands to boreal in nature. Adults are known to within the state. occur on the trunks and foliage of shrubs and trees where they feed on the sap or on the exudation from BIOLOGY aphids, on the developing flowers, or on the forest With few exceptions, the life histories of the nu- floor whilst seeking sites for oviposition. Lar- merous species comprising the family, as here de- vae are recorded as saprophagous, having been rear- limited, are little known. Few, if any, have become ed from fungi, rotting wood, or decomposed vegeta- commercially harmful to agricultural crops in Cali- tion, and as being coprophagous, developing in the fornia. Certain species, notably in the adult later instars to become zoophagous. The larvae of stage, may be considered on occasion to be a nui- Myospila meditabwlda (Fabricius) have been reared sance to man and beast by their annoying attention, from the dung of sheep, horses, and cattle, and e.g., Hydrotaea meteorica (Linnaeus) , Fannia benja- from the feces of human beings. mini Malloch, whilst others are a hazard to public Adults of the Fanniinae are often seen hovering health due to their breeding under conditions un- or dancing under branches or the shade of trees, sanitary to man and for being vectors of pathogenic in garden or woods. They are known to feed on the organisms, e.g., Fannia scalaris (Fabricius), F. sap of plants and the exudation of aphid colonies, canicukwis (Linnaeus) , Mmcina stabulans (Fallkn) . and are frequently met with on the flowers of Com- Adults of the subfamily Coenosiinae are generally positae and Umbelliferae. Adults of Fannia benja- regarded as inhabitants of grasses and related mini have been known, on occasion, to cause con- plants, and they may be taken by sweeping the grass- siderable annoyance to human beings by persistent- Huckett: The Muscidae of California 3 ly flying around the face seeking to alight to feed pings of animals. The larvae of Pseudophaonia are on perspiration and the secretions of eyes, ears, regarded as coprophagous. Adults of Dendrophaonia lips, and nostrils. Adults of F. eanicutaris are are found often on tree trunks, and are known to recorded as frequenting buildings for domestic feed on the exuding sap. Larvae have been bred from animals and for human habitation. Larvae breed in loose bark and the decayed trunks of trees; also in a wide variety of habitats and media, including the case of D. querceti (Bouchg) from the dung of several species of fungi and the decay and litter horses, excrement of humans, and from the nests of on the forest floor, from plant and animal matter hornets, bats and various birds. Adults belonging as old stumps and trunks of fallen trees, from to the genus Phaonia 68116. str. are mostly inhabi- dead insects, dead snails and vertebrates, the de- tants of forests and woods, being seen frequently tritus from nests of birds and certain rodents and on trunks of trees, on forest litter, the blossoms squirrels, and the decaying organic matter in nests of- flowers and shrubs, and occasionally beside beds of wasps and bees. Larvae also breed on the excre- of moss. Larvae have been bred from fungi, Boletus, ment and manure of domestic animals, from the excre- AhZ’Laria, PoZypomcs, droppings of animals, decay- ta found in cesspools and latrines, and from human ed or rotting wood, and the bark of fallen or stand- feces. Larvae of Fannia scakzris and F. ~ranirmkds ing trees. In the last group mentioned, larvae be- have been recognized as incidentally involved in longing to the harti-group have been found to be cases of myiasis in man. predaceous on other insects, including larvae of The habits of the Phaoniinae also vary and dif- Dendroctonus monticolae Hopkins, and are regarded fer widely. Adults of certain species of Hydpotaea as capable of subsisting also on the sap of trees. are known to possess the hovering or dancing flight The species P. tipuzivora Malloch has been reared of certain species of Fannia, and also to be an from a tipulid pupa found in Maryland, and several annoyance to man and cattle in their attempts to European species belonging to the genus have been alight on the face for nourishment.