'Seaweed Flies'

This particular page breaks the mould of featuring species under their respective family as it contains a small assemblage of sometimes very different flies that share one thing in common, which is their seashore habitat. Some are formally known as kelp or wrack flies, whilst others may be referred to as strandline flies in a more general sense, but they can all be grouped together under the informal collective name of 'seaweed flies'.

The sole purpose of this gallery is to include a single photo of each species that could be found in this type of coastal location. The primary species that fall into the category are listed below. There are eleven of them and, at the time of writing, I've managed to find and photograph nine in just three dedicated trips to the coast after realising that I really did need to include some of these species in my collection, which is great, but it does raise questions as to why some are so poorly recorded when they're obviously not that difficult to find.

Descriptions can be read elsewhere as these photos are purely an aid for comparison and identification purposes. The eleven species that can be found in my area are :

The three Coleopidae kelp flies featured on the previous page, all of which have been given a descriptive common name by Steven Falk:

Coelopa frigida - Bristly-legged Seaweed Fly

Coelopa pilipes - Furry-legged Seaweed Fly

Malacomyia sciomyzinae - Pouting Seaweed Fly

Heterocheila buccata, sole member of the Heterocheilidae family, known as the Oarweed Fly.

Helcomyza ustulata, which Steven Falk calls the Dusted Kelp Fly; the only British representative of the Helcomyzidae.

Orygma luctuosum, a coastal scavenging species from the Sepsidae family.

Two of the three Fucellia strandline flies from the Anthomyiidae family:

Fucellia maritima

Fucellia tergina - Narrow-jowled Strandline Fly

And, although unlikely to be confused with any of the above, two Scathophagidae dungflies:

Ceratinostoma ostiorum - Large Shore Dungfly