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Title: Piophilidae

Author
item OZEROV, ANDREJ - MOSCOW STATE UNIV.
item Norrbom, Allen

Submitted to: Manual of Central American Diptera
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/13/2004
Publication Date: 11/15/2010
Citation: Ozerov, A.L., Norrbom, A.L. 2010. Piophilidae. In: Brown, B.V., Borkent, A., Cumming J.M., Wood, D.M., Woodley, N.E., Zumbado, M. editors. Manual of Central American Diptera. Ottawa, Canada: National Research Council Press. p.865-869.

Interpretive Summary: Many flies are pests, but some provide a beneficial service because their larvae feed on and break down dead matter. This paper deals with a small group of flies that feed on dead animals and/or rotting plants and dung. One species, the cheese skipper, and several other species are pests of stored foods such as meat, cheese and hides. This chapter provides an identification tool (key to genera) for one small family from Central and South America. It is part of a manual on the flies of Central America, which will provide keys to all of the families and genera of flies of this region. No books of such scope have been published for this region since 1900. This book will be an important reference for regulatory agencies, scientists, and anyone else needing to identify flies from Central America.

Technical Abstract: A key to the neotropical genera of the family Piophilidae and a review of the Central American fauna are provided. Five genera and ten species are known from the Neotropical Region, but two of the genera and three of the species are not native. Four genera and four species are known from Central America, only two of which are native.