Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Megaselia scalaris
mosca, humpbacked fly, coffin fly, scuttle fly
Found in wet and dry regions.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Insecta
Order
Diptera
Suborder
Brachycera
Family
Phoridae
Genus
Megaselia
Species
scalaris
Taxon category: Accepted
Origin: Introduced - established
Year of first record: 1923
Mode of introduction: Accidental
Introduction Pathway: Contaminant
Subpathway: On habitat material (soil, vegetation)
Introduced status: Naturalized
Invasive status: Unlikely to become invasive
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Subtropical and tropical regions of the world; Española, Floreana, Santa Fé, Isabela, San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz.
- 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 Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished, 64 pp.
- Disney, R.H.L. Sinclair, B.J. (2008) Some scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) of the Galápagos Islands. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 151: 115-132.
- 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
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, Megaselia scalaris", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=6608. Accessed 5 June 2025.