Brine flies

Code QD789999

Amongst the Diptera larvae with the head reduced to a cephalic skeleton, the Notiphilinae are recognised by the absence of anterior spiracles and the posterior spiracles are extended as spines. The remainder of the family are rather similar to the Sciomyzidae, with the posterior spiracles at the apices of divergent branches from a common base. They may be differentiated by the thoracic segments being short, like the abdominal ones, and by the absence of a ventral arch linking the mouth hooks.

Many ephydrid larvae are aquatic or semiaquatic: they tolerate some of the most extreme habitats available such as hot springs, ultrasaline brine pools, sewage filter beds, septic tanks and petroleum pools. As larvae, many are phytophagous, grazing on aquatic plants (including cultivated rice), others are algal grazers.