Carnidae Newman, 1834

Jindřich Roháček

Department of Entomology, Silesian Museum, Tyršova 1, CZ-746 01 Opava, Czech Republic; rohacek@szmo.cz

Minute to small (1.0-2.4 mm) black flies. Frons with two pairs of inclinate lower orbital setae in addition to two pairs of exclinate upper orbitals and with a pair of supralunular interfrontal setae; inner occipital (paravertical) setae well developed. Tibiae without dorsopreapical setae. Wing with C twice broken; cell cup often absent, cross-veins rather basal in position. Pleural membrane of abdomen strongly setulose. Male postabdominal sclerites (segments 6-8) weakly sclerotised; gonostylus often bilobed to bipartite; distiphallus distinctly pubescent; ejaculatory apodeme minute. Female abdominal sterna reduced; postabdominal segments weakly sclerotised; no sclerotised spermathecae; cerci fused. The larvae are saprophagous, developing in decayed organic matter of animal origin, in excrement or carrion; only a few species can develop in other decaying media, including rotten fungi or plant matter. Adults usually occur on or near the breeding substrates of the larvae. Several species are associated with birds' nests; Carnus hemapterus Nitzsch, 1818 is particularly specialised, with larvae developing in nest debris and adults feeding semiparasitically on skin secretions or even on the blood of nestlings.

Altogether 41 species have been recorded in Europe (Carles-Tolrá & Ventura 2002, Ozerov 2004), of which 22 are listed in the present checklist (22 in the Czech Republic, 14 in Bohemia, 21 in Moravia, and 15 in Slovakia). Since the last version of the checklist, the number of species has increased in the Czech Republic by 2 species (1 in Bohemia, 4 in Moravia) and in Slovakia by 1. The fauna of Carnidae is best known in Moravia; in both Bohemia and Slovakia several additional species will almost certainly be found. The family was treated in detail by Papp (1998) who also keyed the Palaearctic genera. Species occurring in Central Europe can be identified using Papp (1978), supplemented by Papp (1981, 1997). Faunistic data on species recorded from the Czech Republic and Slovakia are to be found in numerous papers: for references, see Gregor (1987) and Roháček and Barták (2001). The Fauna Europaea (Ozerov 2004) is followed for the nomenclature, but Meoneura pseudoflavifacies Papp, 1997 is treated as a valid species in conformity with Roháček (1999), and M. glaberrima Becker is dated 1907 instead 1910 because the species was twice described as new but Becker's (1907) first paper was previously overlooked.

References

[1] Becker T. 1907: Die Dipteren-Gruppe Milichinae. Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici 5: 507-550.

[2] Carles-Tolrá M. & Ventura D. 2002: Two new Meoneura Rondani species from Spain (Diptera, Carnidae). Studia dipterologica 9(1): 281-292.

[3] Gregor F. 1987: Carnidae. In Ježek J. (ed.): Enumeratio insectorum bohemoslovakiae. Check list of Czechoslovak insects II (Diptera). Acta Faunistica Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 18: 261.

[4] Ozerov A.L. 1994: [A new species and new synonymy in the genus Meoneura (Diptera, Carnidae).] Zoologicheskij Zhurnal 1994: 139-141. (In Russian).

[5] Ozerov A.L. 2004: Fauna Europaea: Carnidae. In Pape T. (ed.): Fauna Europaea: Diptera, Brachycera. Fauna Europaea version 1.1, http://www.faunaeur.org.

[6] Papp L. 1978: Carnidae. Fauna Hungariae, 133. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, pp. 32-50.

[7] Papp L. 1981: New species and taxonomical data of the Palaearctic Lauxaniidae and Carnidae. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 27: 159-186.

[8] Papp L. 1997: Three new species and a new subspecies of Meoneura from the Alps (Diptera, Carnidae). Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici 89: 151-156.

[9] Papp L. 1998: 3.15. Family Carnidae. In Papp L. & Darvas B. (eds): Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera. Vol. 3., Higher Brachycera. Science Herald, Budapest, pp. 211-217.

[10] Roháček J. 1999: Faunistic Notes: Carnidae. In Jedlička L. (ed.): Dipterologica bohemoslovaca 9, Slovak Entomological Society, Bratislava, p. 207.

[11] Roháček J. & Barták M. 2001: Carnidae. In Barták M. & Vaňhara, J. (eds):  Diptera in an industrially affected region (north-western Bohemia, Bílina and Duchcov environs), II. Folia Facultatis Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis, Biologia 105: 385-388.

[12] Roháček J., Kubík Š. & Barták M. 2005: Carnidae. In Barták M. & Kubík Š. (eds): Diptera of Podyjí National Park and its Environs. Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze, Praha., pp. 311-315.