Hoplodictya spinicornis

A small brown sciomyzid measuring 3–4 mm. Specific diagnostic features distinguishing it from congeners are not documented in available sources.

Marsh environments, inferred from family common name and typical sciomyzid ecology; specific microhabitat preferences are not documented.

Widespread in the southern United States and Mexico; extends north to British Columbia and New Jersey, south to Guatemala and the West Indies.

Larvae are parasites of land snails, specifically recorded from Oxyloma retusum and Mediappendix avara. Adult feeding habits are not documented.

• Oxyloma retusum - larval hostlarva feeds on snail for several days until host death
• Mediappendix avara - larval hostlarva feeds on snail for several days until host death

Averages approximately 45 days from egg to adult. Larvae parasitize multiple snails sequentially, feeding on a first host until its death, then moving to a second and sometimes third snail.

Larvae exhibit sequential host exploitation, abandoning a deceased initial host to locate and parasitize additional snails.

Acts as a biological control agent of land snail populations through larval parasitism.

• Other Hoplodictya speciescongeneric marsh flies sharing small size and brown coloration; specific distinguishing characters not documented
• Other Sciomyzidaefamily members share general marsh fly morphology; identification to species level requires detailed examination

• parasitoid
• snail parasite
• marsh fly

• BugGuide
• Wikipedia
• GBIF taxonomy match
• NCBI Taxonomy
• Catalogue of Life