Editing Fly (section)

== Taxonomy and phylogeny ==

=== Relationships to other insects ===

Dipterans are [[Holometabolism|holometabolous]], meaning that they undergo radical metamorphosis. They belong to the [[Mecopterida]], alongside the [[Mecoptera]], [[Siphonaptera]], [[Lepidoptera]] and [[Trichoptera]].<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-14-52 |pmid=24646345 |pmc=4000048 |title=The evolutionary history of holometabolous insects inferred from transcriptome-based phylogeny and comprehensive morphological data |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=52 |year=2014 |last1=Peters |first1=Ralph S. |last2=Meusemann |first2=Karen |last3=Petersen |first3=Malte |last4=Mayer |first4=Christoph |last5=Wilbrandt |first5=Jeanne |last6=Ziesmann |first6=Tanja |last7=Donath |first7=Alexander |last8=Kjer |first8=Karl M. |last9=Aspöck |first9=Ulrike |last10=Aspöck |first10=Horst |last11=Aberer |first11=Andre |last12=Stamatakis |first12=Alexandros |last13=Friedrich |first13=Frank |last14=Hünefeld |first14=Frank |last15=Niehuis |first15=Oliver |last16=Beutel |first16=Rolf G. |last17=Misof |first17=Bernhard |display-authors=6 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.taxonomy.nl/Taxonomicon/TaxonTree.aspx?id=102510 |title=Taxon: Superorder Antliophora |website=The Taxonomicon |access-date=21 August 2007}}</ref> The possession of a single pair of wings distinguishes most true flies from other insects with "fly" in their names. However, some true flies such as [[Hippoboscidae]] (louse flies) have become secondarily wingless.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hutson |first=A. M. |year=1984 |title=Diptera: Keds, flat-flies & bat-flies (Hippoboscidae & Nycteribiidae) |page=84 |publisher=[[Royal Entomological Society of London]] |series=[[Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects]] |volume=10 pt 7}}</ref><ref name="Mayhew 2007">{{cite journal |last=Mayhew |first=Peter J. |title=Why are there so many insect species? Perspectives from fossils and phylogenies |journal=[[Biological Reviews]] |volume=82 |issue=3 |year=2007 |pages=425–454 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-185X.2007.00018.x |pmid=17624962|s2cid=9356614 }}</ref>

The [[cladogram]] represents the current consensus view.<ref name=Kjer>{{Cite journal |last1=Kjer |first1=Karl M. |last2=Simon |first2=Chris|author2-link=Chris Simon (biologist) |last3=Yavorskaya |first3=Margarita |last4=Beutel |first4=Rolf G. |date=2016 |title=Progress, pitfalls and parallel universes: a history of insect phylogenetics |journal=[[Journal of the Royal Society Interface]] |volume=13 |issue=121 |page=121 |doi=10.1098/rsif.2016.0363 |pmid=27558853 |name-list-style=amp |pmc=5014063 }}</ref>

{{clade
|label1=[[Holometabola]]
|1={{clade
   |1=[[Hymenoptera]] (sawflies, wasps, ants, bees) [[File:European wasp white bg.jpg|70px]]
   |label2=[[Aparaglossata]]
   |2={{clade
      |label1=[[Neuropteroidea]]      
      |1={{clade
         |label1=[[Neuropterida]]
         |1={{clade
            |1=[[Raphidioptera]] (snakeflies) [[File:Raphidia icon.png|70px]]
            |label2=
            |2={{clade
               |1=[[Megaloptera]] (alderflies and allies) [[File:Corydalus cornutus illustration (rotated).png|70px]]
               |2=[[Neuroptera]] (Lacewings and allies) [[File:Osmylus_(white_background).jpg|70px]]
               }}
            }}
         |label2=[[Coleopterida]]
         |2={{clade
            |1=[[Coleoptera]] (beetles) [[File:Pseudacrossus przewalskyi (Reitter, 1887).jpg|50px]]
            |2=[[Strepsiptera]] (twisted-wing parasites) [[File:Elenchus koebelei.jpg|70px]]
            }}
         }}
      |label2=[[Panorpida]]|sublabel2=(Mecopterida)
      |2={{clade
         |label1=[[Amphiesmenoptera]]
         |1={{clade
            |1=[[Trichoptera]] (caddisflies) [[File:RHYACOPHILA DORSALIS Male Pont Forge de Sailly Watigny 02 MHNT.jpg|70px]] 
            |2=[[Lepidoptera]] (butterflies, moths) [[File:Arctia villica SLU.JPG|70px]]
            }}
         |label2=Antliophora
         |2={{clade 
            |1='''Diptera''' [[File:Common house fly, Musca domestica.jpg|70px]] 
            |2={{clade
               |1=[[Mecoptera]] (scorpionflies)  [[File:Scorpionfly (white background).jpg|70px]]
               |2=[[Siphonaptera]] (fleas) [[File:Pulex irritans female ZSM (white background).jpg|40px]]
               }}
            }}
         }}
      }}
   }}
}}

=== Relationships between subgroups and families ===

[[File:Fossil insect Diptera, Brachycera in Baltic amber. Age 50 Mill. years (the Lower Eocene).jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7 |Fossil [[brachycera]]n in [[Baltic amber]]. [[Lower Eocene]], c. 50 million years ago]]

The first true dipterans known are from the [[Middle Triassic]] (around 240 million years ago), and they became widespread during the Middle and [[Late Triassic]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blagoderov |first1=V. A. |last2=Lukashevich |first2=E. D. |last3=Mostovski |first3=M. B. |editor1-last=Rasnitsyn |editor1-first=A. P. |editor2-last=Quicke |editor2-first=D. L. J. |year=2002 |title=History of Insects |chapter=Order Diptera Linné, 1758. The true flies |publisher=[[Kluwer Academic Publishers]] |isbn=978-1-4020-0026-3 |chapter-url=http://palaeoentomolog.ru/New/diptera.html}}</ref> [[Flowering plant|Modern flowering plants]] did not appear until the [[Cretaceous]] (around 140 million years ago), so the original dipterans must have had a different source of nutrition other than [[nectar]]. Based on the attraction of many modern fly groups to shiny droplets, it has been suggested that they may have fed on [[Honeydew (secretion)|honeydew]] produced by [[Homoptera|sap-sucking bugs]] which were abundant at the time, and dipteran mouthparts are well-adapted to softening and lapping up the crusted residues.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Downes |first1=William L. Jr. |author2=Dahlem, Gregory A. |year=1987 |title= Keys to the Evolution of Diptera: Role of Homoptera |journal=[[Environmental Entomology]] |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=847–854 |doi=10.1093/ee/16.4.847 }}</ref> The [[basal clade]]s in the Diptera include the [[Deuterophlebiidae]] and the enigmatic [[Nymphomyiidae]].<ref name="Wiegmann2011">{{cite journal |last1=Wiegmann |first1=B. M. |year=2011 |title=Episodic radiations in the fly tree of life |journal=[[PNAS]] |volume=108 |issue=14 |pages=5690–5695 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1012675108 |first2=M. D. |last3=Winkler |first3=I. S. |last4=Barr |first4=N. B. |last5=Kim |first5=J.-W. |last6=Lambkin |first6=C. |last7=Bertone |first7=M. A. |last8=Cassel |first8=B. K. |last9=Bayless |first9=K. M. |last10=Heimberg |first10=A. M. |last11=Wheeler |first11=B. M. |last12=Peterson |first12=K. J. |last13=Pape |first13=T. |last14=Sinclair |first14=B. J. |last15=Skevington |first15=J. H. |last16=Blagoderov |first16=V. |last17=Caravas |first17=J. |last18=Kutty |first18=S. N. |last19=Schmidt-Ott |first19=U. |last20=Kampmeier |first20=G. E. |last21=Thompson |first21=F. C. |last22=Grimaldi |first22=D. A. |last23=Beckenbach |first23=A. T. |last24=Courtney |first24=G. W. |last25=Friedrich |first25=M. |last26=Meier |first26=R. |last27=Yeates |first27=D. K. |pmid=21402926 |pmc=3078341 |display-authors=6 |last2=Trautwein |bibcode=2011PNAS..108.5690W |doi-access=free }}</ref> Three episodes of [[evolutionary radiation]] are thought to have occurred based on the fossil record. Many new species of lower Diptera developed in the [[Triassic]], about 220 million years ago. Many lower Brachycera appeared in the [[Jurassic]], some 180 million years ago. A third radiation took place among the [[Schizophora]] at the start of the [[Paleogene]], 66 million years ago.<ref name="Wiegmann2011" />

The phylogenetic position of Diptera has been controversial. The monophyly of [[holometabolous]] insects has long been accepted, with the main orders being established as Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera, and it is the relationships between these groups which has caused difficulties. Diptera is widely thought to be a member of [[Mecopterida]], along with Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), Trichoptera (caddisflies), Siphonaptera (fleas), Mecoptera (scorpionflies) and possibly [[Strepsiptera]] (twisted-wing flies). Diptera has been grouped with Siphonaptera and Mecoptera in the Antliophora, but this has not been confirmed by molecular studies.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wiegmann |first1=Brian |last2=Yeates |first2=David K. |title=The Evolutionary Biology of Flies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rElP5sNn6IYC |year=2012 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-0-231-50170-5 |pages=4–6}}</ref>

[[File:Lutzomyia adiketis.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.7 |Fossil [[nematocera]]n in Dominican amber. Sandfly, ''[[Lutzomyia adiketis]]'' ([[Psychodidae]]), [[Early Miocene]], c. 20 million years ago]]

Diptera were traditionally broken down into two suborders, [[Nematocera]] and [[Brachycera]], distinguished by the differences in antennae. The Nematocera are identified by their elongated bodies and many-segmented, often feathery antennae as represented by mosquitoes and crane flies. The Brachycera have rounder bodies and much shorter antennae.<ref>B.B. Rohdendorf. 1964. Trans. Inst. Paleont., Acad. Sci. USSR, Moscow, v. 100</ref><ref name=TOL>{{cite web |last1=Wiegmann |first1=Brian M. |last2=Yeates |first2=David K. |title=Diptera True Flies |url=http://tolweb.org/Diptera/8226 |website=Tree of Life |date=29 November 2007 |access-date=25 May 2016}}</ref> Subsequent studies have identified the Nematocera as being non-monophyletic with modern phylogenies placing the Brachycera within grades of groups formerly placed in the Nematocera. The construction of a phylogenetic tree has been the subject of ongoing research. The following cladogram is based on the FLYTREE project.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yeates |first1=David K. |last2=Meier |first2=Rudolf |last3=Wiegmann |first3=Brian |title=Phylogeny of True Flies (Diptera): A 250 Million Year Old Success Story in Terrestrial Diversification |url=http://www.inhs.illinois.edu/research/flytree/flyphylogeny/ |website=Flytree |publisher=Illinois Natural History Survey |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151228210535/http://inhs.illinois.edu/research/flytree/flyphylogeny/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 December 2015 |access-date=24 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yeates |first1= David K. |last2=Weigmann |first2=Brian M |last3=Courtney |first3=Greg W. |last4=Meier |first4=Rudolf |last5=Lambkins |first5=Christine |last6=Pape |first6=Thomas |title=Phylogeny and systematics of Diptera: Two decades of progress and prospects |year=2007 |journal=[[Zootaxa]] |volume=1668 |pages=565–590 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.1668.1.27 }}</ref>

{{clade | style=font-size:100%;line-height:105%;
 |label1='''Diptera'''
 |grouplabel1={{clade labels|label1="[[Nematocera]]" |top1=16%}}
 |1={{clade |bar1=green
  |1={{clade 
    |1=[[Ptychopteromorpha]] (phantom and primitive crane-flies) [[File:Ptychoptera contaminata male Walker 1856 plate-XXVIII.png|60px]]
    |2=[[Culicomorpha]] (mosquitoes, blackflies and midges) [[File:Stegomyia fasciata.jpg|55px]]
   }}
  |2={{clade
    |1=[[Blephariceromorpha]] (net-winged midges, etc) [[File:Imago of Blepharicera fasciata as Asthenia fasciata in Westwood 1842, plate 94.png|60px]]|bar1=green
    |2={{clade
     |1=[[Bibionomorpha]] (gnats) [[File:Isoneuromyia annandalei.jpg|55px]]|bar1=green
     |2={{clade
       |1=[[Psychodomorpha]] (drain flies, sand flies, etc) [[File:Clogmia_clean.jpg|55px]]|bar1=green
       |2={{clade
        |1=[[Tipulomorpha]] (crane flies) [[File:Tipula oleracea icon.jpg|65px]]|bar1=green
        |label2='''[[Brachycera]]'''
        |2={{clade
          |label1=
          |1={{clade
           |1=[[Stratiomyomorpha]] (soldier flies, etc) [[File:Hermetia illucens f.jpg|66px]]
           |2={{clade
             |1=[[Xylophagomorpha]] (stink flies, etc) [[File:Coenomyia_ferruginea.png|55px]]
             |2=[[Tabanomorpha]] (horse flies, snipe flies, etc) [[File:Chrysops relicta f.jpg|66px]]
            }}
           }}
          |label2=[[Muscomorpha|Mus]]
          |2={{clade
           |1=[[Nemestrinoidea]] [[File:Acrocera globulus.png|66px]]
           |2={{clade
             |1=[[Asiloidea]] (robber flies, bee flies, etc) [[File:Asilidae icon.jpg|66px]]
             |label2=[[Eremoneura|Ere]]
             |2={{clade
              |1=[[Empidoidea]] (dance flies, etc) [[File:Drapetis_brevior_fbi.jpg|35px]]
              |label2=[[Cyclorrhapha|Cyc]]
              |2={{clade
                |1=[[Aschiza]] (in part)
                |2={{clade
                 |1=[[Phoroidea]] (flat-footed flies, etc) [[File:Platypeza_picta.png|55px]]
                 |2={{clade
                   |1=[[Syrphoidea]] (hoverflies) [[File:Syrphidae icon.jpg|55px]]
                   |label2=[[Schizophora|Sch]]
                   |2={{clade
                    |label1=[[Calyptratae|Cal]]
                    |1={{clade
                      |1=[[Hippoboscoidea]] (louse flies, etc) [[File:Nycteribiidae icon.jpg|55px]]
                      |2={{clade
                       |1=[[Muscoidea]] (house flies, dung flies, etc) [[File:Musca_domestica_female.jpg|55px]]
                       |2=[[Oestroidea]] (blow flies, flesh flies, etc) [[File:Sarcophaga_haemorrhoidalis_m.jpg|55px]]
                       }}
                     }}
                    |2=[[Acalyptratae]] (marsh flies, fruit flies, etc) [[File:Ceratitis capitata illustration.jpg|55px]]
                    }}
                  }}
                 }}
               }}
              }}
            }}
           }}
         }}
        }}
      }}
     }}
   }}
  }}
}}

{{smalldiv|1=
''Abbreviations used in the cladogram:''
* Cal=[[Calyptratae]]
* Cyc=[[Cyclorrhapha]] 
* Ere=[[Eremoneura]] 
* Mus=[[Muscomorpha]]
* Sch=[[Schizophora]] 
}}

===Diversity===

[[File:Mydas sp..JPG|thumb|''[[Gauromydas heros]]'' is the largest fly in the world.]]

Flies are often abundant and are found in almost all terrestrial habitats in the world apart from Antarctica. They include many familiar insects such as house flies, blow flies, mosquitoes, gnats, black flies, midges and fruit flies. More than 150,000 have been [[Species description|formally described]] and the actual species diversity is much greater, with the flies from many parts of the world yet to be studied intensively.<ref name=Pape2009>{{cite book |last1=Pape |first1=Thomas |author2=Bickel, Daniel John |author3=Meier, Rudolf |title=Diptera Diversity: Status, Challenges and Tools |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TqAeuBCVdjQC&pg=PR13 |year=2009 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-90-04-14897-0 |page=13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Congruence and controversy: toward a higher-level phylogeny of diptera |journal=[[Annual Review of Entomology]] |volume=44 |pages=397–428 |last2=Wiegmann |first2=B. M. |date=1999 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ento.44.1.397 |pmid=15012378 |last1=Yeates |first1=D. K.}}</ref> The suborder Nematocera include generally small, slender insects with long antennae such as mosquitoes, gnats, midges and crane-flies, while the Brachycera includes broader, more robust flies with short antennae. Many nematoceran larvae are aquatic.<ref name=TolwebDiptera>{{cite web |url=http://tolweb.org/Diptera |title=Diptera: True flies |last1=Wiegmann |first1=Brian M. |last2=Yeates |first2=David K. |year=2007 |website=Tree of Life Web Project |access-date=27 May 2016}}</ref> There are estimated to be a total of about 19,000 species of Diptera in Europe, 22,000 in the Nearctic region, 20,000 in the Afrotropical region, 23,000 in the Oriental region and 19,000 in the Australasian region.<ref name=Pape>{{cite journal |last1=Pape |first1=Thomas |author2=Beuk, Paul |author3=Pont, Adrian Charles |author4=Shatalkin, Anatole I. |author5=Ozerov, Andrey L. |author6=Woźnica, Andrzej J. |author7=Merz, Bernhard |author8=Bystrowski, Cezary |author9=Raper, Chris |author10=Bergström, Christer |author11=Kehlmaier, Christian |author12=Clements, David K. |author13=Greathead, David |author14=Kameneva, Elena Petrovna |author15=Nartshuk, Emilia |author16=Petersen, Frederik T. |author17=Weber, Gisela |author18=Bächli, Gerhard |author19=Geller-Grimm, Fritz |author20=Van de Weyer, Guy |author21=Tschorsnig, Hans-Peter |author22=de Jong, Herman |author23=van Zuijlen, Jan-Willem |author24=Vaňhara, Jaromír |author25=Roháček, Jindřich |author26=Ziegler, Joachim |author27=Majer, József |author28=Hůrka, Karel |author29=Holston, Kevin |author30=Rognes, Knut |author31=Greve-Jensen, Lita |author32=Munari, Lorenzo |author33=de Meyer, Marc |author34=Pollet, Marc |author35=Speight, Martin C. D. |author36=Ebejer, Martin John |author37=Martinez, Michel |author38=Carles-Tolrá, Miguel |author39=Földvári, Mihály |author40=Chvála, Milan |author41=Barták, Miroslav |author42=Evenhuis, Neal L. |author43=Chandler, Peter J. |author44=Cerretti, Pierfilippo |author45=Meier, Rudolf |author46=Rozkosny, Rudolf |author47=Prescher, Sabine |author48=Gaimari, Stephen D. |author49=Zatwarnicki, Tadeusz |author50=Zeegers, Theo |author51=Dikow, Torsten |author52=Korneyev, Valery A. |author53=Richter, Vera Andreevna |author54=Michelsen, Verner |author55=Tanasijtshuk, Vitali N. |author56=Mathis, Wayne N. |author57=Hubenov, Zdravko |author58=de Jong, Yde |display-authors=5 |year=2015 |title=Fauna Europaea: Diptera – Brachycera |journal=[[Biodiversity Data Journal]] |volume=3 |issue=3 |pmc=4339814 |pages=e4187 |doi=10.3897/BDJ.3.e4187 |pmid=25733962 |doi-access=free }}</ref> While most species have restricted distributions, a few like the housefly (''[[Musca domestica]]'') are cosmopolitan.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marquez |first1=J. G. |last2=Krafsur |first2=E. S. |date=2002-07-01 |title=Gene Flow Among Geographically Diverse Housefly Populations (Musca domestica L.): A Worldwide Survey of Mitochondrial Diversity |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1059059 |journal=[[Journal of Heredity]]  |volume=93 |issue=4 |pages=254–259 |doi=10.1093/jhered/93.4.254 |pmid=12407211|doi-access=free }}</ref> ''[[Gauromydas heros]]'' ([[Asiloidea]]), with a length of up to {{convert |7 |cm |in |1 |abbr=on}}, is generally considered to be the largest fly in the world,<ref>{{cite news |title=World's Biggest Fly Faces Two New Challengers |last=Owen |first=James |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/151210-biggest-animals-science-insects-flies-new-species/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151213125146/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/151210-biggest-animals-science-insects-flies-new-species/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 December 2015 |newspaper=National Geographic |date=10 December 2015 |access-date=21 July 2016}}</ref> while the smallest is ''[[Euryplatea nanaknihali]]'', which at {{convert |0.4 |mm |in |3 |abbr=on}} is smaller than a grain of salt.<ref>{{cite news |title=World's Tiniest Fly May Decapitate Ants, Live in Their Heads |last=Welsh |first=Jennifer |url=http://www.livescience.com/21326-smallest-fly-decapitates-ants.html |newspaper=Livescience |date=2 July 2012 |access-date=21 July 2016}}</ref>

Brachycera are ecologically very diverse, with many being predatory at the larval stage and some being parasitic. Animals parasitised include [[molluscs]], [[woodlice]], [[millipede]]s, insects, [[mammal]]s,<ref name=Pape/> and [[amphibian]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Strijbosch |first=H. |year=1980 |title=Mortality in a population of ''Bufo bufo'' resulting from the fly ''Lucilia bufonivora'' |journal=Oecologia |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=285–286 |doi=10.1007/BF00346472 |pmid=28309542 |bibcode=1980Oecol..45..285S |s2cid=32817424 }}</ref> Flies are the second largest group of pollinators after the Hymenoptera (bees, wasps and relatives). In wet and colder environments flies are significantly more important as pollinators. Compared to bees, they need less food as they do not need to provision their young. Many flowers that bear low nectar and those that have evolved [[Pollination trap|trap pollination]] depend on flies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ssymank |first1=Axel |last2=Kearns |first2=C. A. |last3=Pape |first3=Thomas |last4=Thompson |first4=F. Christian |date=2008-04-01 |title=Pollinating Flies (Diptera): A major contribution to plant diversity and agricultural production |journal=Biodiversity |volume=9 |issue=1–2 |pages=86–89 |doi=10.1080/14888386.2008.9712892|s2cid=39619017 }}</ref> It is thought that some of the earliest pollinators of plants may have been flies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Labandeira |first=Conrad C. |date=1998-04-03 |title=How Old Is the Flower and the Fly? |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=280 |issue=5360 |pages=57–59 |doi=10.1126/science.280.5360.57 |hdl=10088/5966 |s2cid=19305979 }}</ref>

The greatest diversity of gall forming insects are found among the flies, principally in the family Cecidomyiidae (gall midges).<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.baae.2005.07.002 |title=Adaptive radiation of gall-inducing insects |journal=Basic and Applied Ecology |volume=6 |issue=5 |pages=413–421 |year=2005 |last1=Price |first1=Peter W.|doi-access=free }}</ref> Many flies (most importantly in the family Agromyzidae) lay their eggs in the mesophyll tissue of leaves with larvae feeding between the surfaces forming blisters and mines.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2006.12.018 |pmid=17291785 |title=Phylogenetic relationships within the leaf-mining flies (Diptera: Agromyzidae) inferred from sequence data from multiple genes |journal=[[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution]] |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=756–75 |year=2007 |last1=Scheffer |first1=Sonja J. |last2=Winkler |first2=Isaac S. |last3=Wiegmann |first3=Brian M.|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1259491 }}</ref> Some families are mycophagous or fungus feeding. These include the cave dwelling Mycetophilidae (fungus gnats) whose larvae are the only diptera with bioluminescence. The Sciaridae are also fungus feeders. Some plants are pollinated by fungus feeding flies that visit fungus infected male flowers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sakai |first1=Shoko |last2=Kato |first2=Makoto |last3=Nagamasu |first3=Hidetoshi |date=2000 |title=Artocarpus (Moraceae)-Gall Midge Pollination Mutualism Mediated by a Male-Flower Parasitic Fungus |journal=[[American Journal of Botany]] |volume=87 |issue=3 |pages=440–445 |doi=10.2307/2656640|hdl=10088/12159 |jstor=2656640 |pmid=10719005 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
 
The larvae of ''[[Megaselia scalaris]]'' (Phoridae) are almost omnivorous and consume such substances as paint and shoe polish.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Disney |first=R.H.L. |year=2007 |title=Natural History of the Scuttle Fly, ''Megaselia scalaris'' |journal=[[Annual Review of Entomology]] |volume=53 |pages=39–60 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ento.53.103106.093415 |pmid=17622197 |url=https://tede.ufrrj.br/jspui/handle/jspui/1224 }}</ref> The ''[[Exorista mella (Walker)]]'' fly are considered generalists and parasitoids of a variety of hosts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stireman |first=John O. |date=2002-09-01 |title=Learning in the Generalist Tachinid Parasitoid Exorista Mella Walker (Diptera: Tachinidae) |journal=[[Journal of Insect Behavior]] |volume=15 |issue=5 |pages=689–706 |doi=10.1023/A:1020752024329 |s2cid=36686371}}</ref> The larvae of the [[Ephydridae|shore flies]] (Ephydridae) and some Chironomidae survive in extreme environments including glaciers (''[[Diamesa]]'' sp., Chironomidae<ref name="Biology of Shore Flies">{{cite journal |last1=Foote |first1=B.A. |title=Biology of Shore Flies |journal=[[Annual Review of Entomology]] |volume=40 |pages=417–442 |year=1995 |doi=10.1146/annurev.en.40.010195.002221}}</ref>), hot springs, geysers, saline pools, sulphur pools, septic tanks and even crude oil (''[[Helaeomyia petrolei]]''<ref name="Biology of Shore Flies"/>).<ref name="Pape"/> Adult [[hoverflies]] (Syrphidae) are well known for their [[mimicry]] and the larvae adopt diverse lifestyles including being [[inquiline]] [[scavenger]]s inside the nests of social insects.<ref name="Gullan320">{{cite book |last1=Gullan |first1=P.J. |last2=Cranston |first2=P.S. |title=The Insects: An Outline of Entomology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E_6-pGOLUgcC&pg=PA320 |year=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-4457-5 |page=320}}</ref> Some brachycerans are agricultural pests, some bite animals and humans and suck their blood, and some transmit diseases.<ref name="Pape"/>