Natural History of the Scuttle Fly, Megaselia scalaris

Abstract

The larvae of Megaselia scalaris (Diptera: Phoridae) exploit a broad spectrum of larval pabula. Consequently, the species features in a range of situations that affect the resources or well-being of humans. Furthermore, M. scalaris is readily cultured in the laboratory and is therefore favored as an experimental species for genetic, developmental, and bioassay studies. However, the extensive but widely scattered literature, reviewed herein, is frequently ignored by specialists, which gives rise to the unwitting repetition of previous work as well as insupportable proposals.