247 articles
Cuterebra
Cuterebra, rodent and rabbit bot flies (New World genus, Oestridae), whose larvae cause cuterebriasis in pets: subcutaneous warbles with breathing pores, occasional CNS disease in cats, treated by manual larval extraction.
Cylindrotomidae
Cylindrotomidae, the cylindrotomid crane flies, is a small family of Tipuloidea (Diptera) with 97 species in two subfamilies, Cylindrotominae and Stibadocerinae, defined by a trifid aedeagus, loss of wing vein R3, and phytophagous larvae, sister to Tipulidae.
Daisho antimicrobial peptide
Daisho peptides (Daisho1/Dso1, formerly IM4; Daisho2/Dso2, formerly IM14) are Drosophila Toll-induced immune peptides, adjacent divergently transcribed genes, required against a subset of filamentous fungi such as Fusarium oxysporum.
Deer fly
Deer fly (Chrysops spp., family Tabanidae, subfamily Chrysopsinae): small biting tabanid flies, 7-10 mm, mottled wings; females blood-feed, vector tularemia and Loa loa; distinct from larger horse flies (Tabanus).
DEET
DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) is the most widely used synthetic insect repellent, developed by the U.S. Army in 1946, applied to skin at 5–99% concentrations, repelling mosquitoes and ticks by disrupting olfaction.
Deltamethrin
Deltamethrin, a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide discovered by Michael Elliott in 1974 at Rothamsted, CAS 52918-63-5, acts on sodium channels and is used in crop protection, IRS, and mosquito nets.
Dengue
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease transmitted by the day-biting mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, causing around 5 million cases and over 5,000 deaths worldwide in 2023.
Dermatobia hominis
Dermatobia hominis, the human botfly (torsalo, berne), is a Neotropical Oestridae fly whose larvae cause furuncular myiasis; eggs are glued to mosquitoes, larvae develop 5-10 weeks under skin, from Mexico to Argentina.
Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene
Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) is an organochlorine compound (CASRN 72-55-9), usually the p,p′-isomer, that forms as the primary metabolite of DDT; it causes eggshell thinning in birds of prey.
Dicranota
Dicranota (Zetterstedt, 1838) is a large genus of hairy-eyed crane flies (Pediciidae) with 256 species in 11 subgenera, aquatic larvae with five hooked proleg pairs, and a mainly Palaearctic and Nearctic distribution.
Diptera
Diptera, the true flies (mosquitoes, hoverflies, house flies), is an insect order defined by one pair of functional wings and halteres, with about 170,000 described species in over 150 families, fossils from the Permian-Triassic, and major roles in pollination, decomposition, and disease transmission.
Diptera genera of uncertain geological placement
Diptera genera of uncertain geological placement are named fossil fly genera that cannot be confidently assigned to a specific geological period, family, or amber deposit, as flagged by the Fossil Diptera Catalog.
Diptera immunity
Diptera immunity is the innate immune system of flies, which lack adaptive immune memory and instead defend through the Toll and Imd pathways and antimicrobial peptides.
Diptera in amber
Diptera in amber are flies preserved as inclusions in fossilized tree resin, abundant in Burmese, Baltic, and Dominican amber, including extinct families and the oldest known mosquitoes.
Diptera internal physiology
Diptera internal physiology covers the internal organ systems of flies: a three-region gut with a Diptera-specific crop, an open circulatory system, tracheal breathing, and excretion by Malpighian tubules.
Diptera of Australia and New Zealand
The Diptera of Australia and New Zealand form part of the Australasian and Oceanian fly fauna east of Weber's Line, with over 9,000 described Australian species.
Diptera of Europe
The Diptera of Europe are the roughly 19,000 described species of true flies recorded from the European continent, across 132 families including midges, gnats, crane flies, and higher flies.
Diptera of North America
The Diptera of North America are the true flies, the two-winged insects, of the Nearctic region north of Mexico; Canada alone holds 9,777 known species in 118 families.
Diptera of the Neotropical realm
The Diptera of the Neotropical realm are the fly faunas of South and Central America and the Caribbean, with about 34,000 described species and likely five times more.
Diptera pests of crops and stored products
Diptera pests of crops and stored products are two-winged flies that rank among the world's worst agricultural pests, including tephritid fruit flies, agromyzid leafminers, gall midges, and frit flies.
Diptera reproduction and mating
Diptera reproduction and mating covers how flies court, copulate, and store sperm, from ancestral aerial swarms to elaborate courtship song, with consequences for pest and vector control.
Diptera taxonomy
Diptera taxonomy is the classification of the true flies, an order split into Nematocera and Brachycera, whose oldest fossils date to the Triassic 240 million years ago.
Dipterologiae Italicae prodromus
Dipterologiae italicae prodromus, Camillo Rondani's Latin monograph on Italian Diptera published in Parma from 1856 (six or seven volumes, sources differ), with dichotomous keys and species descriptions still used in fly taxonomy.
Dolichopodidae
Dolichopodidae, the long-legged flies, is the fourth largest dipteran family of predatory flies in Empidoidea, defined by epipharyngeal armature and green metallic coloration; many subfamilies are paraphyletic, and adults prey on aphids and other small insects.
Drosophila
Drosophila (vinegar fly genus, over 1600 species, type species D. funebris) is a drosophilid fly genus; D. melanogaster is a premier genetics model with conserved human disease genes, while D. suzukii is a fruit pest.
Drosophila melanogaster
Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, the leading genetic model organism: 143.7 Mb genome, 13,986 coding genes, 9–10-day life cycle, four Nobel Prizes, and the 2024 complete 139,255-neuron brain connectome.
Drosophila suzukii
Drosophila suzukii, the spotted-wing drosophila or cherry drosophila (Matsumura, 1931), is an Asian vinegar fly whose females oviposit in ripening soft fruit; invasive in Hawaii (1980), mainland North America and Europe (2008), causing about $500 million yearly US crop damage.
Drosophilidae
Drosophilidae (Rondani, 1856), the vinegar, pomace, or fruit fly family of Diptera; over 4,400 species in subfamilies Steganinae and Drosophilinae; includes the model organism Drosophila melanogaster and the pest D. suzukii.
Elephantomyia brevipalpa
Elephantomyia brevipalpa is an extinct species of crane fly in the family Limoniidae, known from Eocene Baltic amber and first described by Hermann Loew in 1851.
Empididae
Empididae, the dance flies, is a predatory fly family in Empidoidea (Diptera). Known for aerial mating swarms, male nuptial gifts, and reversed female ornaments in Empis, Hilara, and Rhamphomyia; classification revised by Sinclair & Cumming 2006 and molecular work establishing Ragadidae as sister.