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What
are they?
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Neodialinura
sp. (Diptera: Therevidae)
photo by Anthony O'Toole, University of Queensland
Additional
Therevid Pictures
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Worldwide,
the Stiletto Flies (Insecta: Diptera: Asiloidea:Therevidae)
have been poorly known and among the least understood of the
flies (Order Diptera). Diptera are among the poorest known of
the larger insect orders. Yet, this fascinating, medium-sized
(>1,600 spp.) family of flies is critical to the sound functioning
of arid and semiarid environments, including agroecosystems
and forests in those zones. Individuals of this family have
been infrequently collected because the adults are usually secretive,
frequenting habitats rarely sampled by collectors. |
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predaceous larvae are hidden within dry, friable, often sandy
substrates. Consequently, larvae of these flies may well be
excellent control agents of active fossorial arthropod pests
in sandy agroecosystems. Furthermore, their abundance can be
an indirect measure of subterranean productivity, and their
diversity may be an excellent indicator of habitat heterogeneity.
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Thereva
fucata
Loew (Diptera: Therevidae)
photo by M. E. Irwin
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