Galapagos Species Database

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

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Atherigona orientalis Schiner, 1868

mosca, fly

Larvae inhabit mostly decaying fruit and vegetables, but sometimes vertebrate carrion (Pont 1986). This species was reared from wet, decaying Jasminocereus.

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Arthropoda

Class
Insecta

Order
Diptera

Suborder
Brachycera

Family
Muscidae

Genus
Atherigona

Species
orientalis

Taxon category: Accepted

B. Sinclair: Previously syn. of Acc. name Pieza sinclairi Evenhuis, 2002

Origin: Introduced - established

Introduction

Year of first record: 1899

Mode of introduction: Accidental

Introduction Pathway: Contaminant

Subpathway: On habitat material (soil, vegetation)

Introduced status: Naturalized

Invasive status: No data

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: Warm regions of Old and New Worlds; Española, Floreana, Genovesa, Isabela, Marchena, Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal.

References

  • 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.
  • 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. (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 Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished, 64 pp.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, Atherigona orientalis", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=5577. Accessed 2 November 2026.