Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Olfersia spinifera
mosca, fly
This species is a strictly specific parasite of frigate (Fregata) birds (Bequaert 1957). It is infected by the epidermoptid mit Myialges Sergent and Trouessart, which are parasites on the skin of birds (Bequaert 1933).
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Insecta
Order
Diptera
Suborder
Brachycera
Family
Hippoboscidae
Genus
Olfersia
Species
spinifera
Taxon category: Accepted
Origin: Native
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Cosmopolitan over tropical seas; Floreana, Genovesa, Santa Cruz, Seymour.
- Bequaert, J.C. (1933) The Templeton Crocker Expedition of the California Academy of Sciences, 1932. No. 11 The Hippoboscidae of the Galapagos Archipelago (Notes on the Hippoboscidae. 8.) with an Appendix on the Tabanidae. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., Fourth Series 21(11): 131-138.
- Curran, C.H. (1932) The Norwegian Zoological Expedition to the Galapagos Islands 1925, Conducted by Alf Wollebæk. 4. Diptera. (Excl. of Tipulidae and Culicidae). Medd. Zool. Mus., Oslo 30: 347-366.
- Johnson, C.W. (1924) Diptera of the Williams Galapagos Expedition. Zoologica 5(8): 85-92.
- Linsley, E.G. Usinger, R.L. (1966) Insects of the Galápagos Islands. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences Fourth Series 33(7): 113-196.
- Sinclair, B. J. (2023) An annotated checklist of the Diptera of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador). Zootaxa, 5283, 1-102
- 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 Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished, 64 pp.
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, Olfersia spinifera", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=12432. Accessed 31 October 2026.