Family SCIOMYZIDAE

 

Members of the family Sciomyzidae, commonly called marsh flies, are comprised of some 600 species in 60 or so genera found worldwide. All known larvae of reared living species (about 200) are predaceous or parasitic on freshwater or terrestrial snails. Some species are effective enough in their predatory habits to have been introduced into various places as biological control agents.
The fossil record of Sciomyzidae is one of the better for the higher acalypterate flies, there being 13 described species in 6 genera (all restricted to the Tertiary). Many of these are from extinct genera known only from the Eocene/ Oligocene Baltic amber. Species described on the basis of compression fossils are known for the extant genera Sciomyza Fallén and Tetanocera Duméril.
In addition to the determined material listed below, Whalley & Jarzembowski (1985) recorded the puparium of what they believe is a sciomyzid from the Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous of Spain. If this identification is correct, this is the earliest fossil representative of a sciomyzid. Further undescribed Lower Cretaceous specimens have been recorded from Spain by Zherichin (1985) and Gomez Pallerola (1986).

 

Genus PALAEOHETEROMYZA Meunier

PALAEOHETEROMYZA Meunier, 1904e: 26. Type species: Palaeoheteromyza crassicornis Meunier, 1904, by monotypy.

crassicornis Meunier, 1904e: 26. PA: Baltic Region (Eocene/Oligocene) [A].
curticornis Hennig, 1965: 99. PA: Baltic Region (Eocene/Oligocene) [A].
investiganda Hennig, 1969a: 9. PA: Baltic Region (Eocene/Oligocene) [A].

 

Genus PROPHAEOMYIA Hennig

PROPHAEOMYIA Hennig, 1965: 87. Type species: Prophaeomyia loewi Hennig, 1965, by monotypy.

loewi Hennig, 1965: 87. PA: Baltic Region (Eocene/Oligocene) [A].

 

Genus PROSALTICELLA Hennig

PROSALTICELLA Hennig, 1965: 92. Type species: Prosalticella succini Hennig, 1965, by monotypy.

succini Hennig, 1965: 92. PA: Baltic Region (Eocene/Oligocene) [A].

 

Genus SCIOMYZA Fallén

*SCIOMYZA Fallén, 1820e: 11. Type species: Sciomyza simplex Fallén, 1820, by subsequent designation of Westwood (1840: 145).

disjecta Scudder, 1878c: 758. NE: USA (Eocene) [C].
manca Scudder, 1878c: 756. NE: USA (Eocene) [C].
revelata Scudder, 1877b: 276. NE: Canada (Oligocene) [C].

 

Genus SEPEDONITES Hennig

SEPEDONITES Hennig, 1965: 102. Type species: Sepedonites baltica Hennig, 1965, by monotypy.

baltica Hennig, 1965: 102. PA: Baltic Region (Eocene/Oligocene) [A].

 

Genus TETANOCERA Duméril

*TETANOCERA Duméril, 1800: 439 (as "Tétanocère"). Type species: Musca elata Fabricius, 1781.
[I.C.Z.N. validation of genus-group name and type-species designation needs to be applied for; see Sabrosky (1951: 566) for details on confusion of name and dating.]

alireticulata Théobald, 1937a: 355. PA: France (Oligocene) [C].
contenta Förster, 1891: 488. PA: Germany (Miocene) [C].
preciosa Förster, 1891: 487. PA: Germany (Miocene) [C].
variciliata Théobald, 1937a: 415. PA: France (Oligocene) [C].