De Nederlandse Slakkendoders (Sciomyzidae) [The Snail-Killing Flies of the Netherlands]

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Language: Dutch with English summary

This publication describes the snail-killing flies (or marsh flies) of the Netherlands. The central part is a key to the 67 species known from the Netherlands and 17 species that could be expected based on their distribution in surrounding countries. First, the characteristics of the family and the differences with allied families are explained, followed by an introduction to the life cycle and ecology of the flies in relation to their various habitats. The history of research on snail-killing flies in the Netherlands is described, including the collecting efforts during different periods as well as the origin of the 15,500 observations recorded up to November 20th, 2020, which form the basic dataset for this publication. These data indicate that some species are restricted in their distribution in the Netherlands, that a number of species were more frequent before 1950 and that there is a significant difference between the sciomyzid faunas of cultural and natural areas. A checklist of the treated species is provided in which the Dutch species are numbered. Sciomyza dryomizina and Pherbellia sordida are reported from the Netherlands for the first time. The illustrated key is followed by a section of species accounts, which describe aspects of identification, biology, flight period and distribution. Many species are illustrated by photos of living specimens. All photos are of Dutch specimens.

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