Editing Sepsidae

{{Short description|Family of flies}}
{{automatic taxobox
| image = Sepsis fulgens01.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Sepsis fulgens]]'' (lesser dung fly)
| display_parents = 3
| taxon = Sepsidae
| authority = [[Francis Walker (entomologist)|Walker]], 1833
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = See text
}}

The '''Sepsidae''' are a [[family (biology)|family]] of [[Fly|flies]], commonly called the '''black scavenger flies''' or '''ensign flies'''. Over 300 species are described worldwide.<ref>Ang, Y. and R. Meier. (2010). [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3088448/ Five additions to the list of Sepsidae (Diptera) for Vietnam: ''Perochaeta cuirassa'' sp. n., ''Perochaeta lobo'' sp. n., ''Sepsis spura'' sp. n., ''Sepsis sepsi'' Ozerov, 2003 and ''Sepsis monostigma'' Thompson, 1869.] ''ZooKeys'' 70 41-56.</ref> They are usually found around dung or decaying plant and animal material. Many species [[ant mimicry|resemble ants]], having a "waist" and glossy black body. Many Sepsidae have a curious wing-waving habit made more apparent by dark patches at the wing end.

Many  species have a very wide distribution, reflecting  the [[coprophagous]] habit of most Sepsidae.  Some species have been spread over large territories in association with livestock. Adult flies are found mostly on mammal [[Feces|excrement]], including that of humans (less often on other rotting organic matter), where eggs are laid and [[larva]]e develop, and on nearby vegetation, carrion, fermenting tree sap, and shrubs and herbs.

Many Sepsidae apparently play an important biological role as decomposers of mammal and other animal excrement. Some species may have a limited hygienic importance because of their association with human feces. Others are useful tools in [[forensic entomology]].

==Description==
[[File:Sepsis on blade of grass.ogv|thumb|''Sepsis'' sp. on grass (video, 59 sec)]]
[[File:Sepsidae 01.webm|thumb|Sepsidae mating dance, 4x-slow-motion]]
[[File:Sepsidae 03.webm|thumb|Sepsidae mating dance, 2x-slow-motion]]
For terms, see [[Morphology of Diptera]].<br>
Sepsids are slender flies that resemble minute, winged ants. They are usually black in color, sometimes lustrous, and sometimes with silvery hairs on the thorax. The head is rounded. Sepsids have one or more bristles at the posteroventral margin of the posterior spiracle of the thorax, a character that distinguishes the family from other [[Acalyptratae|acalyptrates]]. The postvertical bristles are divergent or sometimes absent. Up to three pairs of frontal bristles are seen. They have ocelli with ocellar bristles. Vibrissae and palpi are poorly developed. The front legs of the male often have extrusions, spurs, teeth, or other ornamentation. The tibia has a dorsal preapical bristle in most genera. The abdomen is usually constricted in the basal part.

The larva is slender, tapering at the front end, and smooth except for ventral creeping welts. The larva is amphipneustic: it has two pairs of spiracles, one toward the head and one at the tail. The bulbous posterior end with its pair of spiracles distinguishes it from the larvae of other acalyptrates.

The [[pupa]] is enclosed within a puparium.

==Classification==
[[File:CurranNAMDiptera312Sepsidae.jpg|thumb|230px|right|Sepsidae morphology]]
Genera include:<ref>{{cite book |author=Ozerov, A.L. |title=World catalogue of the family Sepsidae (Insecta: Diptera) |publisher=Zoologicheskiĭ muzeĭ, Moscow |year=2005|url=http://msubiology.info/shipunov/school/books/ozerov2005_sepsidae.pdf}}
</ref>
{{div col}}
*''[[Adriapontia]]'' <small>Ozerov,  1996</small><ref name="Ozerov1996">{{cite journal |last1=Ozerov |first1=A.L. |title=To the fauna and taxonomy of African Sepsidae (Diptera) |journal=Russian Entomological Journal |date=1996 |volume=4[1995] |pages=127–144}}</ref>
*''[[Afromeroplius]]'' <small>Ozerov, 1996</small><ref name="Ozerov1996"/>
*''[[Afronemopoda]]'' <small>Ozerov, 2004</small><ref name="Ozerov2004">{{cite journal |last1=Ozerov |first1=A.L. |title=New genera and species of Sepsidae (Diptera) |journal=Russian Entomological Journal |date=2004 |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=399–420}}</ref>
*''[[Afrosepsis]]'' <small>Ozerov, 1996</small><ref name="Ozerov1996"/>
*''[[Archisepsis]]'' <small>Silva, 1993</small><ref name="Silva1993">{{cite journal |last1=Silva |first1=V. C. |title=Revisao da familia Sepsidae na regiao Neotropical. Iii. Os generos ''Palaeosepsis'' Duda, 1926, ''Archisepsis'' Gen. N. e ''Microsepsis'' Gen. N., Chave para os Generos Neotropicais (Diptera, Schizophora) |journal=Iheringia, Série Zoologia |date=1993 |volume=75 |pages=117–170}}</ref>
*''[[Australosepsis]]'' <small>[[John Russell Malloch|Malloch]], 1925</small><ref name="Malloch1925">{{cite journal |last1=Malloch |first1=J.R. |title=Notes on Australian Diptera. No. vii. |journal=Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales |date=1925 |volume=50 |pages=311–340}}</ref>
*''[[Brachythoracosepsis]]'' <small>Ozerov, 1996</small><ref name="Ozerov1996"/>
*''[[Decachaetophora]]'' <small>[[Oswald Duda|Duda]], 1926</small><ref name="Duda1926">{{cite journal |last1=Duda |first1=Oswald |title=Monographie der Sepsiden (Dipt.). I. |journal=Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien |date=1926 |volume=39(1925) |pages=1-153, 7 pls}}</ref>
*''[[Diploosmeteriosepsis]]'' <small>Ozerov, 1996</small><ref name="Ozerov1996"/>
*''[[Dicranosepsis]]'' <small>[[Oswald Duda|Duda]], 1926</small><ref name="Duda1926"/>
*''[[Dudamira]]'' <small>Ozerov, 1996</small><ref name="Ozerov1996"/>
*''[[Idiosepsis]]'' <small>Ozerov, 1990</small><ref name="Ozerov1990">{{cite journal |last1=Ozerov |first1=A.L. |title=New data on the fauna and taxonomy of the African Dipterans of the family Sepsidae (Diptera) |journal=Vest. Zool. |date=1990 |volume=1990 |issue=2 |pages=15–20 |language=Russian}}</ref>
*''[[Lasionemopoda]]'' <small>[[Oswald Duda|Duda]], 1926</small><ref name="Duda1926"/>
*''[[Lasiosepsis]]'' <small>[[Oswald Duda|Duda]], 1926</small><ref name="Duda1926"/>
*''[[Lateosepsis]]'' <small>Ozerov, 2004</small><ref name="Ozerov2004"/>
*''[[Leptomerosepsis]]'' <small>[[Oswald Duda|Duda]], 1926</small><ref name="Duda1926"/>
*''[[Meropliosepsis]]'' <small>[[Oswald Duda|Duda]], 1926</small><ref name="Duda1926"/>
*''[[Meroplius]]'' <small>[[Camillo Rondani|Rondani]], 1874</small>
*''[[Microsepsis]]'' <small>Silva, 1993</small><ref name="Silva1993"/>
*''[[Mucha (fly)|Mucha]]'' <small>Ozerov, 1992</small><ref name="Ozerov1992">{{cite journal |last1=Ozerov |first1=A.L. |title=New genus and three new species of sepsid flies (Diptera, Sepsidae) from Vietnam |journal=Zoologicheskii Zhurnal |date=1992 |volume=71 |pages=147–150 |language=Russian}}</ref>
*''[[Nemopoda]]'' <small>[[Jean-Baptiste Robineau-Desvoidy|Robineau-Desvoidy]], 1830</small><ref name="Robineau-Desvoidy1830">{{cite journal |last1=Robineau-Desvoidy |first1=André Jean Baptiste |title=Essai sur les myodaires |journal=Mémoires presentés à l'Institut des Sciences, Lettres et Arts, par divers savants et lus dans ses assemblées: Sciences, Mathématiques et Physique |date=1830 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=1–813 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3472165#page/9/mode/1up |access-date=15 July 2018}}</ref>
*''[[Ortalischema]]'' <small>[[Heinrich Frey|Frey]], 1925</small><ref name="Frey1925">{{cite journal |last1=Frey |first1=R. |title=Zur Systematik der Diptera Haplostomata. II. Fam. Sepsidae |journal=Notulae Ent. |date=1925 |volume=5 |pages=69–76}}</ref>
*''[[Orygma]]'' <small>[[Johann Wilhelm Meigen|Meigen]], 1830</small><ref name="Meigen1830">{{cite book |last1=Meigen |first1=J.W. |title=Systematische Beschreibung der bekannten europäische n zweiflugeligen Insekten |date=1830 |publisher=Sechster Theil. Schulz |location=Hamm |pages=xi + 401 +[3] pp}}</ref>
*''[[Palaeosepsioides]]'' <small>Ozerov, 1992</small><ref name="Ozerov1992b">{{cite journal |last1=Ozerov |first1=A.L. |title=New data on the neotropical sepsids (Diptera Sepsidae) |journal=Russian Entomological Journal |date=1992 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=81–86}}</ref>
*''[[Palaeosepsis]]'' <small>[[Oswald Duda|Duda]], 1926</small><ref name="Duda1926"/>
*''[[Parapalaeosepsis]]'' <small>[[Oswald Duda|Duda]], 1926</small><ref name="Duda1926"/>
*''[[Paratoxopoda]]'' <small>[[Oswald Duda|Duda]], 1926</small><ref name="Duda1926"/>
*''[[Perochaeta]]'' <small>[[Oswald Duda|Duda]], 1926</small><ref name="Duda1926"/>
*[[Extinction|†]]''[[Protorygma]]'' <small>[[Willi Hennig|Hennig]], 1965</small><ref name="Hennig1965">{{cite journal |last1=Hennig |first1=W. |title=Die Acalyptratae des Baltischen Bernsteins und ihre Bedeutung fur die Erforschung der phylogenetischen Entwicklung dieser Dipteren-Gruppe |journal=Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde |date=1965 |volume=145 |issue=1–215 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33512937#page/7/mode/1up |access-date=13 January 2022}}</ref>
*''[[Pseudonemopoda]]'' <small>[[Oswald Duda|Duda]], 1926</small><ref name="Duda1926"/>
*''[[Pseudopalaeosepsis]]'' <small>Ozerov, 1992</small><ref name="Ozerov1992b"/>
*''[[Saltella]]'' <small>[[Jean-Baptiste Robineau-Desvoidy|Robineau-Desvoidy]], 1830</small><ref name="Robineau-Desvoidy1830"/>
*''[[Sepsis (fly)|Sepsis]]'' <small>[[Carl Fredrik Fallén|Fallén]], 1810</small><ref name="Fallen1810">{{cite book |last1=Fallen |first1=C.F. |title=Specim. entomolog. novam Diptera disponendi methodum exhibens. |date=1810 |publisher=Berlingianis |location=Lund |pages=26 pp.,1 pl |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/188591#page/3/mode/1up |access-date=10 January 2022}}</ref>
*''[[Susanomira]]'' <small>Pont, 1987</small><ref name="Pont1987">{{cite journal |last1=Pont |first1=A.C. |title=Two new genera of West Palaearctic Sepsidae (Diptera) |journal=Entomologica Scandinavica |year=1987 |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=265–272 |doi=10.1163/187631287X00124 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249567677 |access-date=11 January 2022|doi-access=free }}</ref>
*''[[Themira]]'' <small>[[Jean-Baptiste Robineau-Desvoidy|Robineau-Desvoidy]], 1830</small><ref name="Robineau-Desvoidy1830"/>
*''[[Toxopoda]]'' <small>[[Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart|Macquart]], 1851</small><ref name="Macquart51">{{cite journal |last= Macquart|first= P. J. M. |date = 1851 |title=  Dipteres exotiques nouveaux ou peu connus. Suite du 4e supplement publie dans les memoires de 1849 |journal= Mémoires de la Société (Royale) des sciences, de l'agriculture et des arts à Lille |volume=  1850 |pages= 134–294 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/107754#page/156/mode/1up| access-date=28 March 2021}}</ref>
*''[[Xenosepsis]]'' <small>[[John Russell Malloch|Malloch]], 1925</small><ref name="Malloch1925"/>
*''[[Zuskamira]]'' <small>Pont, 1987</small><ref name="Pont1987"/>
{{div col end}}

==See also==
*[[List of sepsid fly species recorded in Europe]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
===Identification===
*[[Oswald Duda|Duda]], O. 1926 Monographie der Sepsiden (Dipt.). ''Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien'' 39 (1925): 1-153 and 40 (1926) : 1-110.This work is partly out of date but still the only review of world [[genus|genera]].
*[[Willi Hennig]], 1949: 39a. ''Sepsidae''. In [[Erwin Lindner]] : ''Die Fliegen der Paläarktischen Region'', Bd. V: 1-91, Textfig. 1-81a-d, Taf. I-X, Stuttgart. The only comprehensive work on [[Palaearctic]] [[genus|genera]] and [[species]].
*Adrian C. Pont and Rudolf Meier ''The Sepsidae (Diptera) of Europe''. [[Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica]] Volume 37.  198 pages. {{ISBN|90-04-12477-2}}
*A.L. Ozerov ''Sepsid Flies (Diptera, Sepsidae) of Russia's Fauna''. Studies on the fauna; Archives of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University: Zool. Mus. Moscow. Univ. Publ.Language: Russian, title, contents and a summary in English. 184 pages.A very well illustrated guide to all 57 species from 11 genera of Sepsidae flies occurring in Russia, with keys to adults and pre-imaginal stages, and accounts concerning anatomy, phylogeny and distribution.
*Silva, V. C. . Revision of the family Sepsidae of the Neotropical region. ii. The genus ''Meropliosepsis'' Duda, 1926 (Diptera, Schizophora). Revista Brasileira de Entomologia, v. 36, n. 3, p.&nbsp;549-552, 1992.
*K. G. V. Smith, 1989 An introduction to the immature stages of British Flies. Diptera Larvae, with notes on eggs, puparia and pupae.''[[Royal Entomological Society Handbooks|Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects]]'' Vol 10 Part 14. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140209094357/http://www.royensoc.co.uk/content/out-print-handbooks pdf ] download manual (two parts Main text and figures index)
* Lives in [Rocky Mountains] of Colorado, in the United States.

===Species lists===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051031232714/http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=10957 West Palaearctic including Russia]
*[http://www.nearctica.com/nomina/main.htm Nearctic]
*[http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/aocat/sepsidae.html Australasian/Oceanian]
*[http://konchudb.agr.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp/mokuroku/ Japan]

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://eol.org/pages/9009/media Family Sepsidae at EOL]
*[http://www.cirrusimage.com/fly_black_scavenger_Sepsidae.htm Black Scavenger Fly - diagnostic photographs]
*[http://delta-intkey.com/britin/dip/www/sepsidae.htm Family description and images]
*[http://www.diptera.info/photogallery.php?album_id=46 Images of Sepsidae on Diptera.info]

{{Diptera|2}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1685942}}

[[Category:Sepsidae| ]]
[[Category:Brachycera families]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]