Survey of conceptual and taxonomic characteristics of the Families Acartophthalmidae, Canacidae and Carnidae (Insecta: Diptera)

Abstract

The Acartophthalmidae family includes tiny to small dark flies with hyaline or infuscate wings along the coast. Adults live in the forest, where they are associated with decaying substances such as wood, fungi, carrion, excrement and rotten meat. The Canacidae are found along the sea coasts, on the surface of small bodies of water, saline and fresh, in places protected from the wind. They feed on infusoria and other tiny organisms. In Carnidae, the larvae are saprophagous or coprophagous (they live in the litter of birds' nests). Pupae are enclosed within a puparium and bird nests are micro-ecosystems with diverse communities of invertebrates, from ectoparasitoids to commensal species. The objective of this manuscript was to carry out a survey of the Families Acartophthalmidae, Canacidae and Carnidae regarding their biology, ecology, geographic distribution, and taxonomy. The systematized bibliographic study, of the descriptive and exploratory type of the Families Acartophthalmidae and Canacidae. The bibliographic search included the LILACS databases at: http://www.bireme.br/, in electronic journals available at the SciELO and USP databases: http: //www.usp.br/ and in theoretical books, these banks, university dissertations, national and international scientific articles, scientific journals, documents. The main terms used were: Diptera, flies, Acartophthalmidae, Canacidae and Carnidae.