Streblidae

Key takeaways

Streblidae belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Streblidae to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Streblidae from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Streblidae are a family of flies in the superfamily Hippoboscoidea, and together with their relatives the Nycteribiidae, are known as bat flies. They are winged or wingless ectoparasites of bats, and often have long legs. They appear to be host-specific, with different species of bat flies occurring only on particular species of bat hosts, sometimes with multiple species of flies sharing a host bat.

Systematics The 237 or so species are divided among roughly 33 genera and five subfamilies. The monophyly of this family has not been supported. The streblid subfamily Trichobiinae may be more closely related to the Nycteriboscinae and other lineages in the Nycteribiidae. Several authors favor splitting the family into an Old World lineage consisting of the Ascodipterinae and Nycteriboscinae and a New World lineage containing all other subfamilies. The former would be named Ascodipterinae and the latter would retain the name Streblidae. Alternatively, the Streblidae and Nycteribiidae might be united as a monophyletic family containing all bat flies. Subfamilies are here listed in presumed order of most ancient to most recently evolved. Selected genera are also given, sorted alphabetically, as too little is known about their interrelationships.

Subfamily Brachytarsininae Speiser 1900 (sometimes Nycteriboscinae) Genus Brachytarsina Macquart, 1851 Genus Megastrebla Maa, 1971 Subgenus Aoroura Subgenus Megastrebla Maa, 1971 Genus Raymondia Frauenfeld, 1855 Genus Raymondiodes Jobling, 1954 Subfamily Ascodipterinae Monticelli 1898 Genus Ascodipteron Adensamer, 1896 Genus Maabella Hastriter & Bush, 2006 Genus Paraascodipteron Advani & Vazirani, 1981 Subfamily Nycterophiliinae Wenzel, 1966 Genus Nycterophilia Ferris, 1916 Genus Phalconomus Wenzel, 1984 Subfamily Streblinae Speiser, 1900 Genus Anastrebla Wenzel, 1966 Genus Metelasmus Coquillett, 1907 Genus Paraeuctenodes Pessôa & Guimarães, 1937 Genus Strebla Wiedemann, 1824 Subfamily Trichobiinae Jobling, 1936 Genus Anatrichobius Wenzel, 1966 Genus Aspidoptera Coquillett, 1899 Genus Eldunnia Curran, 1934 Genus Exastinion Wenzel, 1966 Genus Joblingia Dybas & Wenzel, 1947 Genus Mastoptera Wenzel, 1966 Genus Megistopoda Macquart, 1852 Genus Megistapophysis Dick & Wenzel, 2006 Genus Neotrichobius Wenzel & Aitken, 1966 Genus Noctiliostrebla Wenzel, 1966 Genus Paradyschiria Speiser, 1900 Genus Parastrebla Wenzel, 1966 Genus Paratrichobius Costa Lima, 1921 Genus Pseudostrebla Costa Lima, 1921 Genus Speiseria Kessel, 1925 Genus Stizostrebla Jobling, 1939 Genus Synthesiostrebla Townsend, 1913 Genus Trichobioides Wenzel, 1966 Genus Trichobius Gervais, 1844 Genus Xenotrichobius Wenzel, 1976 Subfamily incertae sedis †Enischnomyia Poinar & Brown, 2012

Morphology One of the characteristic feature of streblid bat flies is their variable degree of eye reduction. The compound eyes are highly, but variably reduced, with some species containing only rudimentary eye spots. Ocelli are absent in all species. Wing morphology also significantly varies within the family with some species containing fully functional wings, while others contain either reduced (non functional or functional) wings or no wings at all.

Parasites Streblid bat flies, which are parasites, are themselves infested by fungi of the order Laboulbeniales; these fungi are thus hyperparasites.

References

Further reading Dick, C.W.; Gettinger, D. (2005). "A faunal survey of streblid flies (Diptera: Streblidae) associated with bats in Paraguay". Journal of Parasitology. 91 (5): 1015–1024. doi:10.1645/GE-536R.1. PMID 16419742. S2CID 24627459. Fritz, G.N. (1983). "Biology and ecology of bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae) on bats in the genus Carollia". Journal of Medical Entomology. 20 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1093/jmedent/20.1.1. PMID 6827567. Gannon, M.R.; Willig, M.R. (1995). "Ecology of ectoparasites from tropical bats" (PDF). Environmental Entomology. 24 (6): 1495–1503. doi:10.1093/ee/24.6.1495. Komeno, C.A.; Linhares, A.X. (1999). "Batflies parasitic on some phyllostomid bats in southeastern Brazil: parasitism rates and host-parasite relationships". Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. 94 (2): 151–156. doi:10.1590/S0074-02761999000200004. PMID 10224519. Patterson, B.D.; Ballard, J.W.; Wenzel, R.L. (1998). "Distributional evidence for cospeciation between Neotropical bats and their bat fly ectoparasites". Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment. 33 (2): 76–84. doi:10.1076/snfe.33.2.76.2152. Wenzel, R.L. (1976). "The Streblid batflies of Venezuela (Diptera:Streblidae)". Brigham Young University, Science Bulletin, Biological Series. 20 (4): 1–177. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.5666. Wenzel, R.L. & Tipton, V.J. (eds.) (1966): Ectoparasites of Panama. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Streblidae

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Streblidae claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Streblidae before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Streblidae ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Streblidae

In research: Streblidae appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Streblidae in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Streblidae is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Brachycera families, Ectoparasites, Hippoboscoidea, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Streblidae outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Streblidae in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Streblidae means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Streblidae out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Streblidae in simple terms?

The Streblidae are a family of flies in the superfamily Hippoboscoidea, and together with their relatives the Nycteribiidae, are known as bat flies. They are winged or wingless ectoparasites of bats, and often have long legs.

Why does Streblidae matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Streblidae?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Streblidae.