Nycteribiidae is a family of the true fly superfamily Hippoboscoidea. Together with their close relatives the Streblidae, they are known as "bat flies". As the Streblidae do not seem to be a monophyletic group, it is conceivable that bat flies cannot be united into a single family.
They are flattened, spiderlike flies without eyes or wings, bearing very little resemblance to other Dipterans. These flies are seldom encountered by general collectors, as both males and females are parasites, living on and rarely leaving the body of their hosts and taking blood meals. Most species are highly host-specific. Female bat flies often must leave their hosts to breed and lay eggs, but do not leave their bats' immediate habitat. The family is primarily found in the Old World tropics; a few of the 274 known species occur in the Neotropics and Europe.
General Subfamily Archinycteribiinae Maa, 1975 Archinycteribia Speiser, 1901 Subfamily Cyclopodiinae Maa, 1965 Cyclopodia Kolenati, 1863 Dipseliopoda Theodor, 1955 Eucampsipoda Kolenati, 1857 Leptocyclopodia Theodor, 1959 Subfamily Nycteribiinae Westwood, 1835
Basilia Miranda Ribeiro, 1903 Hershkovitzia Guimarães & d'Andretta, 1956 Nycteribia Latreille, 1796 Penicillidia Kolenati, 1863 Phthiridium Hermann, 1804 Stereomyia Theodor, 1967 Stylidia Westwood, 1840
Morphology One of the key morphological features of Nycteribiidae is their highly reduced compound eyes. Many species of Nycteribiidae contain no visible eyes or contain only rudimentary eye spots. None of the species contains wings. They have backward folded legs that resemble those of spiders and a dorsally inserted head.Kirk-Spriggs, Ashley H., Marion Kotrba, and Robert S. Copeland. "Further details of the morphology of the enigmatic African fly Mormotomyia hirsuta Austen (Diptera: Mormotomyiidae)." African Invertebrates 52.1 (2011): 145-165.
References
Further reading
HTML abstract
External links
Diptera.info Images Nycteribiidae page at British Insects: Diptera Families (Contains links to illustrations)