Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Piophila casei (Linnaeus, 1758)

moscas y mosquitos, cheese skipper

This is a synanthropic species and a serious pest in the food industry (McAlpine 1977).

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Arthropoda

Class
Insecta

Order
Diptera

Suborder
Brachycera

Family
Piophilidae

Genus
Piophila

Species
casei

Taxon category: Accepted

Origin: Introduced - established

Introduction

Year of first record: 1835

Mode of introduction: Accidental

Introduction Pathway: Contaminant

Subpathway: Food contaminant

Introduced status: Human dependent

Invasive status: Unlikely to become invasive

Distribution

Distribution: Cosmopolitan; Floreana, Santa Cruz.

References

  • Peck, S.B. Heraty, J., Landry, B. & Sinclair, B.J. (1998) Introduced insect fauna of an oceanic archipelago: The Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Am. Entomol. 44: 218-237.
  • Sinclair, B.J. Peck, S.B. (2005) An annotated checklist of the Diptera of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador). Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished, 64 pp.
  • Peck, S.B. (1996) Origin and development of an insect fauna on a remote archipelago: The Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. In: Keast A., Miller S.E. (eds.): The origin and evolution of Pacific Island biotas, New Guinea to eastern Polynesia: patterns and processes. SPB Academic Publishing, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, p. 91-122.
  • Sinclair, B. J. (2023) An annotated checklist of the Diptera of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador). Zootaxa, 5283, 1-102

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Piophila casei", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=12295. Accessed 5 June 2025.