British Soldierflies and their allies
Encyclopedia
British Entomological and Natural History Society
The British Entomological and Natural History Society or BENHS is a British entomological society. It is based at Dinton Pastures Country Park in Reading.-History:BENHS was founded in 1872 as the South London Entomological and Natural History Society....
in 2001.
It is a sequel to an earlier volume, British Hoverflies: an identification guide, and covers the following families of flies, which collectively are known as the "Larger Brachycera
Larger Brachycera
The Larger Brachycera is a name which refers to flies in the following families of the suborder Brachycera:* Acroceridae, the hunchback-flies* Asilidae, the robberflies* Athericidae, the water-snipeflies* Bombyliidae, the bee-flies...
": Acroceridae
Acroceridae
Acroceridae is a small family of odd looking flies most closely related to Nemestrinidae. There are about 520 species in 50 genera. They are characterized by a humpbacked appearance and a small head, sometimes with a long proboscis for nectar. As such, acrocerids are commonly known as small-headed...
, Asilidae
Asilidae
Insects in the Diptera family Asilidae are commonly called robber flies. The family Asilidae contains about 7,100 described species worldwide....
, Athericidae
Athericidae
Athericidae is a small family of flies known as water snipe-flies; they used to be placed in the family Rhagionidae. The adults mostly feed on nectar but some species feed on mammal blood.- External Links :*...
, Bombyliidae
Bombyliidae
Bombyliidae is a large family of flies with hundreds of genera, although their life cycles are not well known. Adults generally feed on nectar and pollen, thus are pollinators of flowers. They superficially resemble bees, thus are commonly called bee flies, and this may offer the adults some...
, Rhagionidae
Rhagionidae
Rhagionidae or snipe flies are a small family of flies containing 21 genera.-Description:Rhagionidae are medium-sized or large flies with slender bodies and stilt-like legs. The mouthparts are adapted for piercing and many species are haematophagous as adults, while others are predatory on other...
, Scenopinidae
Scenopinidae
Scenopinidae or window flies are a small family of flies , distributed worldwide. In buildings they are often taken at windows, hence the common name window flies....
, Stratiomyidae
Stratiomyidae
The soldier flies , are a family of flies . The family contains about 1,500 species in about 400 genera worldwide. Adults are found near larval habitats...
, Tabanidae, Therevidae
Therevidae
Therevidae are a family of Diptera Asiloidea commonly known as stiletto flies. The family contains about 1,600 described species worldwide, most diverse in arid and semi-arid regions with sandy soils...
, Xylomyidae
Xylomyidae
Xylomyidae or wood soldier flies is a family of Diptera associated with dead or dying wood .-Genera:*Solva*Solva marginata *Solva minuta*Solva nigritibialis*Solva varia*Xylomya...
and Xylophagidae
Xylophagidae
The Brachyceran infraorder Xylophagomorpha is a small group that consists solely of the family Xylophagidae, which presently contains subfamilies that were sometimes considered to be two small related families...
.
The book introduced English names for all included species, the first time this has been done in a scientific reference work for a whole group of flies.
It contains a set of photographic plates by David Wilson.