The first two cases of the occurrence of Megaselia abdita Schmitz (Diptera: Phoridae) in human corpses in Britain are reported and a further case of M. rufipes (Meigen). In all three cases the corpses experienced low temperatures.

Phoridae are small or minute flies easily recognized by their humpbacked appearance. The adults are fairly common in many habitats, but occur especially in decaying animal or vegetable matter. Some occur in fungi and some are internal parasitoids (Veríssimo, 1995; Andreotti et al., 2003) of various other insects. Megaselia scalaris (Loew, 1866) (Diptera: Phoridae) is found in various environmen...

A new species of bunchgrass lizard in the Sceloporus scalaris group is described from the southern portion of the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. The new species, Sceloporus aurantius sp. nov., was previously confused with S. brownorum but differs from this and all but one species within the S. scalaris group by a lack of blue belly patches in males. It shares with S. chaneyi an absence of b...

With 1,400 described species, Megaselia is one of the most species-rich genera in the animal kingdom, and at the same time one of the least studied. An important obstacle to taxonomic progress is the lack of knowledge concerning the phylogenetic structure within the genus. Classification of Megaselia at the level of subgenus is incomplete although Schmitz addressed several groups of species in ...

A mysterious female phorid fly, known for many years to be associated with fungal sporophores ("mushrooms") is identified as Megaselia marquezi Hartop et al. 2015. Male and female flies were collected emerging from the fungus Psathyrella candolleana (Fr.) Maire, and females were observed swarming over the sporophores.