Chloropidae

Definition

A family of small acalyptrate flies (Diptera: Carnoidea) commonly called frit flies or grass flies, comprising approximately 2,000 described species in over 160 genera. Adults are typically yellow or black with a characteristic shiny, nearly hairless cuticle. The family exhibits diverse larval habits: most are phytophagous, feeding on grasses and cereal crops and achieving pest status in agriculture, while others are parasitoids, predators, or kleptoparasites. Certain genera—notably Hippelates and Siphunculina—are medically significant as eye gnats, attracted to lachrymal secretions and body fluids of vertebrates.

Etymology

From Chlorops (type genus, from Greek chloros "green" + ops "eye/face") + -idae (family suffix)

Example

Oscinella frit is a chloropid whose larvae tunnel in the stems of wheat and barley, causing the 'frit fly' damage that gives the family one of its common names.

Synonyms

• frit flies (common name)
• grass flies (common name)

Related Terms

• Diptera
• Acalyptrata
• Carnoidea
• Oscinellinae
• Phytophagy
• eye gnats
• Hippelates

Usage Notes

Chloropidae is treated as plural in formal taxonomic usage ("the Chloropidae are...") despite the singular Latin form. The family is distinguished from similar small flies by its reduced chaetotaxy and the characteristic shiny, often metallic appearance of adults. In agricultural contexts, 'frit fly' may refer specifically to Oscinella frit or broadly to any cereal-feeding chloropid. Medical entomologists distinguish the eye-gnat chloropids (Hippelates, Siphunculina) from other filth flies by their specialized attraction to ocular and nasal secretions rather than to decaying organic matter.