Belongs within: Sciomyzoidea.
Contains: Tetanocerini.
The Sciomyzidae are a group of flies whose larvae are mostly predators or parasitoids of molluscs or (rarely) annelids. Most species attack gastropods; the North American Renocera brevis feeds on fingernail clams (Knutson 1987). The larvae of one species, Atrichomelina pubera, have been recorded varying between parasitic, predatory or saprophagous behaviour depending on circumstances (Marinoni & Knutson 2010). Two spermathecae are present in most genera but four are present in Salticella.
Characters (from Marinoni & Knutson 2010): Adults small to large (body length 2–13 mm), mostly yellow to brown, sometimes black. Head with antenna porrect, pedicel usually elongate; arista bare to plumose; ocellar setae usually present; inner and outer vertical setae developed; postocellar setae parallel or slightly divergent. Face slightly to strongly concave, uniformly sclerotised; vibrissa absent; clypeus small, withdrawn. Thorax with zero or one proepisternal seta; zero or one presutural supra-alar; zero to two postalars; zero or one postpronotal; usually two notopleural; usually two pairs of scutellar setae. Wing elongate, completely hyaline to patterned; C and Sc complete; C unbroken; A1 + CuA2 reaching margin. Legs slender; some or all tibiae with preapical dorsal seta. Male terminalia symmetrical to asymmetrical; tergite 6 usually absent; right spiracles 6 and 7 mostly in tergite; epandrium well developed, symmetrical; usually with anterior and posterior surstylus, sometimes anterior one vestigial or absent; cercus well developed, setose. Female sternites 6, 7 and 8 separate or fused; two spermathecae present. Egg length 0.6–2 mm; white or yellowish, often becoming brown or grey as larva develops; usually unicolorous. Mostly oval, with dorsal surface often less convex than ventral surface. Each end usually with low or prominent tubercle, anterior tubercle often reduced. Micropyle terminal or subterminal. Chorion slightly reticulate or with ridges and grooves. Larva white, integument transparent, diaphanous (semi-terrestrial and terrestrial species), or brownish or yellowish (aquatic species). Third instar with elongate and cylindrical body, tapered anteriorly; posterior spiracular disc surrounded by two to five pairs of short to elongate lobes. Surface smooth or with areas of microscopic spinules. Aquatic species with elongate float hairs between posterior spiracular slits; float hairs much reduced in terrestrial species. Cephalopharyngeal species in first three segments, long, with paired mandibles; ventral area connected posterolaterally on each side of mandibles; mandibles with or without row of accessory teeth. Puparium with integument opaque, yellowish, reddish-brown to dark brown or almost black. Ovoid, barrel-shaped, tapered at both ends, posterior spiracles in most aquatic species elevated above dorsum.
<==Sciomyzidae [Tetanoceridae]MK10
|--RenoceraK87 [RenocerinaeMK10]
| `--R. brevisK87
|--SalticellaS68 [SalticellinaeMK10]
| `--S. fasciataS68
`--SciomyzinaeMK10
| i. s.: DichaetophoraCM70
|--+--TetanoceriniWT11
| `--NeolimniaWT11 [NeolimniinaeMK10]
| `--N. obscuraWT11
`--SciomyziniMK10
|--Atrichomelina puberaMK10
|--Neuzina diminutaMK10
|--CallisciaMK10
|--ParectinoceraMK10
|--Colobaea americanaK87
|--Oidematops ferrugineusK87
|--PteromicraMK10
| |--P. inermisA71
| `--P. pleuralisK87
|--DitaeniellaMK10
| |--D. parallelaMK10
| `--D. patagonensisMK10
|--PherbelliaWT11
| |--P. albovariaD63
| |--P. annulipesWT11
| |--P. dorsataK87
| |--P. maculataK87
| `--P. trabeculataMK10
`--SciomyzaK87
|--S. aristalisK87
|--S. cinerella [incl. Dictya herbarum]L49
|--S. florissantensisK87
|--S. rufiventrisK01
`--S. simplexS68
Sciomyzidae incertae sedis:
Tetanura pallidiventrisS68
Coremacera marginataS68
DictyodesMK10
PerilimniaMK10
ShannoniaMK10
Calobaea bifasciellaPB27
CtenulusPB27
|--C. pectoralisPB27
`--C. punctatusPB27
KnutsoniaRD77
PalaeoheteromyzaP92
ProphaeomyiaP92
ProsalticellaP92
SepedonitesP92
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[A71] Askew, R. R. 1971. Parasitic Insects. Heinemann Educational Books: London.
[CM70] Colless, D. H., & D. K. McAlpine. 1970. Diptera (flies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 656–740. Melbourne University Press.
[D63] Dimelow, E. J. 1963. Mollusks from hardwoods of the Chigneto Isthmus. Nautilus 77 (1): 21–23.
[K01] Kertész, K. 1901. Legyek [Dipteren]. In: Horváth, G. (ed.) Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazása [Dritte Asiatische Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] vol. 2. Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazásának Állattani Eredményei [Zoologische Ergebnisse der Dritten Asiatischen Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] pp. 179–201. Victor Hornyánszky: Budapest, and Karl W. Hierseman: Leipzig.
[K87] Knutson, L. V. 1987. Sciomyzidae. In: McAlpine, J. F. (ed.) Manual of Nearctic Diptera vol. 2 pp. 927–940. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.
[L49] Lucas, H. 1849. Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie pendant les années 1840, 1841, 1842 publiée par ordre du gouvernement et avec le concours d’une commission académique. Sciences physiques. Zoologie. II. Histoire naturelle des animaux articulés. Troisième partie. Insectes (suite). Imprimerie Nationale: Paris.
[MK10] Marinoni, L., & L. Knutson. 2010. Sciomyzidae (snail-killing flies, marsh flies). In: Brown, B. V., A. Borkent, J. M. Cumming, D. M. Wood, N. E. Woodley & M. A. Zumbado (eds) Manual of Central American Diptera vol. 2 pp. 1017–1024. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.
[PB27] Pilsbry, H. A., & J. Bequaert. 1927. The aquatic mollusks of the Belgian Congo, with a geographical and ecological account of Congo malacology. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 53 (2): 69–602, pls 10–77.
[P92] Poinar, G. O., Jr. 1992. Life in Amber. Stanford University Press: Stanford.
[RD77] Richards, O. W., & R. G. Davies. 1977. Imms’ General Textbook of Entomology 10th ed. vol. 2. Classification and Biology. Chapman and Hall: London.
[S68] Steyskal, G. C. 1968. The number and kind of characters needed for significant numerical taxonomy. Systematic Zoology 17 (4): 474–477.
[WT11] Wiegmann, B. M., M. D. Trautwein, I. S. Winkler, N. B. Barr, J.-W. Kim, C. Lambkin, M. A. Bertone, B. K. Cassel, K. M. Bayless, A. M. Heimberg, B. M. Wheeler, K. J. Peterson, T. Pape, B. J. Sinclair, J. H. Skevington, V. Blagoderov, J. Caravas, S. N. Kutty, U. Schmidt-Ott, G. E. Kampmeier, F. C. Thompson, D. A. Grimaldi, A. T. Beckenbach, G. W. Courtney, M. Friedrich, R. Meier & D. K. Yeates. 2011. Episodic radiations in the fly tree of life. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 108 (14): 5690–5695.