Ephydridae: Shore Flies of Hawai'i XII

Brief description

This cosmopolitan family of flies are very small, ranging from 0.9 to 7.0 mm in size. Morphologically, they are gray or black with patterned wings. As their common name implies, Ephydridae flies are aquatic or semi-aquatic, inhabiting a variety of wetland and seashore habitats, including alkaline lakes, salt and petroleum pools, hot springs and marshes. These ecologically diverse flies frequent coastlines and aquatic vegetation. Many larvae feed on aquatic plants and algae, while some are predatory (i.e. Trimerina genus). Due to this feeding behavior, some phytophagous species can cause damage to agricultural crops. On the other hand, some larvae and adults serve as an important food source for other animals, such as migratory birds. As adults, they exhibit similar feeding habits, feeding on algae, plants and bacteria. In Hawai'i, a majority of our native ephydrids are of the genus Scatella. This genus is widespread throughout the Pacific basin (Western Samoa, French Polynesia, Australia, New Zealand, Easter Island, and Hawai'i) and encompasses 135 species, 17 of which are Hawaiian and 15 that are endemic.  Please help transcribe the UHIM's shore flies collection in order to better help us understand their distribution and impact in Hawai'i.    This expedition of 406 tasks is fully transcribed and validated. This data resource is harvested periodically into the main occurrence index.