Asteiidae Flies of Hawai'i

Brief description

Asteiidae is a very small family of flies, consisting of about 130 described species from 10 widespread genera. Because of their small size as a family, specimens are rarely collected in the wild. Flies are 1 to 3 millimeters in length, are relatively thin-bodied and exhibit a yellow-black or other dark colored hue. Unlike females, males have distinct frontal stripes. Adults from some species exhibit host preference, while others can be found on a range of hosts and substrates, from flowers to window screens. The larval biology of this family is still a mystery but past research suggests that the larvae may scavenge and feed during the feeding of other insects. Another notable characteristic displayed by Asteiidae flies is that they are acalyptrate, or are not blood-feeders. Please help transcribe the UHIM's Asteiidae fly collection in order to better help us understand their distribution and impact in Hawai'i.This expedition of 721 tasks is fully transcribed and validated. This data resource is harvested periodically into the main occurrence index.