Scuttle flies trapped at baits of dead mice are reported from a region of S. W. Finland subjected to pollution from the smelting of copper and nickel. Most belonged to the huge genus Megaselia, but 96% were females, the majority of which cannot be named until linked to their males. These are given code numbers and distinguished by means of a key.

The Phoridae is known as 'scuttle flies' because they walk in rapid bursts of movement with short pauses between. In this study, larval locomotive behavior and development was characterized in the phorid, Megaselia scalaris. Comparison was made with the well-characterized fruit fly model, Drosophila melanogaster. Developmentally, the rate of maturation was consistently slower for Megaselia than...

Developmental gene networks implement the dynamic regulatory mechanisms that pattern and shape the organism. Over evolutionary time, the wiring of these networks changes, yet the patterning outcome is often preserved, a phenomenon known as "system drift." System drift is illustrated by the gap gene network-involved in segmental patterning-in dipteran insects. In the classic model organism Droso...