Overview
Adults are mainly found near swamps or forest margins. Larvae of most species are predators or parasitoids of freshwater or terrestrial snails. Free-living larvae and floating pupae of
Dichetophora
are common in ponds and dams. Larvae of
Dichetophora
and
Sepedon
are important predators of snails that may carry liver-fluke.
Pelidnoptera nigripennis
(Fabricius) has been introduced to South Australia from Portugal for the control of
Ommatoiulus moreleti
(Lucas), a pest millipede, in which its larvae are parasitoids.
Description
The Sciomyzidae are distinguished from related families by having the prelabrum ('clypeus' in error) reduced and well removed from the lower margin of the face.
Pelidnoptera
is sometimes placed in a separate family, the Phaeomyiidae (Vala et al. 1990).
Sepedon
is peculiar among the Schizophora in lacking a ptilinal fissure.
Distribution
This is a moderately species-rich family worldwide, but with little representation (only eight species) in Australia and New Zealand. Our characterisation of Sciomyzidae excludes taxa of Huttoninidae, found only in New Zealand.