Ephydridae: Shore Flies of Hawai'i XII

This cosmopolitan family of flies are very small, ranging from 0.9 to 7.0 mm in size. Morphologically, they are gray or black with patterned wings. As their common name implies, Ephydridae flies are aquatic or semi-aquatic, inhabiting a variety of wetland and seashore habitats, including alkaline lakes, salt and petroleum pools, hot springs and marshes. These ecologically diverse flies frequent coastlines and aquatic vegetation. Many larvae feed on aquatic plants and algae, while some are predatory (i.e. Trimerina genus). Due to this feeding behavior, some phytophagous species can cause damage to agricultural crops. On the other hand, some larvae and adults serve as an important food source for other animals, such as migratory birds. As adults, they exhibit similar feeding habits, feeding on algae, plants and bacteria. In Hawai'i, a majority of our native ephydrids are of the genus Scatella. This genus is widespread throughout the Pacific basin (Western Samoa, French Polynesia, Australia, New Zealand, Easter Island, and Hawai'i) and encompasses 135 species, 17 of which are Hawaiian and 15 that are endemic.  Please help transcribe the UHIM's shore flies collection in order to better help us understand their distribution and impact in Hawai'i.    This expedition of 406 tasks is fully transcribed and validated. This data resource is harvested periodically into the main occurrence index.

水蝇科（Ephydridae）是一类广布性小型蝇类，体型介于0.9至7.0毫米之间。形态上，该类昆虫多呈灰色或黑色，翅膀带有斑纹。正如其通用名所示，水蝇科（Ephydridae）昆虫多为水生或半水生类群，栖息于各类湿地与海岸生境，包括碱性湖泊、盐池与石油池、热泉及沼泽。这类生态多样的蝇类常活动于海岸线及水生植被区域。多数幼虫以水生植物与藻类为食，部分类群（如毛眼水蝇属（Trimerina））则为捕食性。依托此类取食习性，部分植食性物种可对农作物造成危害。另一方面，部分幼虫与成虫可作为候鸟等其他动物的重要食物来源。成虫的取食习性与幼虫相似，以藻类、植物及细菌为食。在夏威夷地区，本地水蝇科物种多数隶属于粪眼水蝇属（Scatella）。该属广泛分布于太平洋流域（包括西萨摩亚、法属波利尼西亚、澳大利亚、新西兰、复活节岛及夏威夷），共计135个物种，其中17种分布于夏威夷，15种为夏威夷特有种。恳请协助转录UHIM（夏威夷大学昆虫博物馆，University of Hawaii Insect Museum）的海岸蝇类馆藏标本，以更好地阐明该类群在夏威夷的分布状况与生态影响。本次包含406项任务的转录与验证工作已全部完成。该数据集将定期更新至核心物种出现记录数据库。