Taxonomy

Family: Sepsidae

Subfamily: Sepsinae

Genus: Parapalaeosepsis (Duda 1926)

Species: plebeia (de Meijere 1906)

Biology

Sepsidae have been recorded breeding on and swarming around carrion and dung. In particular, Zuska and Colless (1984) and Fuller (1934) have trapped the species at carrion.

Distribution

Parapalaeosepsis plebeia is one of the most common sepsids in Australia, and the only member of the family to occur in Tasmania. It lives at high elevations and in cooler climates. It is distributed mainly in south-eastern Australia.

Relevant Literature

Anderson, G.S. and Vanlaerhoven, S.L. (1996) Initial studies on insect succession on carrion in southwestern British Columbia. Journal of Forensic Sciences 41, 617-625.

Colless, D.H. (1980) Biogeography of Australian Sepsidae (Diptera). Australian Journal of Zoology 28, 65-78.

Zuska, J. and Colless, D.H. (1984) Australian Sepsidae (Diptera). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 23, 59-67.