2.1 WHAT IS A FLY AND HOW DO I SPOT ONE?

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Figure 2.3 Examples of some of the forms of antennae found in insects. Reproduced from
Munro (1966) with kind permission of Rentokil Initial plc

with a means of gaining both chemical (contact chemoreceptors) and mechanical

information (mechanoreceptors over a distance) from its surroundings
Insects (a class within the phylum Arthropoda, or jointed limbs phylum) are
divided into a large number of groups called orders. Each order is divided into
a number of families. Each family is made up of a number of genera (singular
genus) and each genus has one or more species (Figure 2.4). The named groups,
at each level of this hierarchy, are called taxa (singular taxon).
One of the orders of insects which are forensically relevant is the Order Diptera –
the true or two-winged flies.

2.1 What is a fly and how do I spot one?

Flies are easily distinguished from other insects by having two fully developed,
usually obvious, front wings, but with each of its two back wings modified into
balancers, called halteres. These structures resemble tiny drumsticks.
There has been a considerable change in fly taxonomy recently and the
agreed groupings of flies arise from modern developments in taxonomy, including
molecular studies. In the older forensic text books, the taxonomy by Kloet and
Hincks (1976) has been used. In this classification, the Diptera were divided into
three suborders, with the third, the Cyclorrhapha, subdivided into the Aschiza,
Schizophora-Acalyptratae and the Schizophora-Calyptratae.
Currently, the phylogenetic classifications between the suborders and the fami-
lies are mainly a response to practical considerations, so that now, rather than
three suborders within the Diptera, there are two suborders