Hippelates

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Antliophora
Ordo: Diptera
Subordo: Brachycera
Infraordo: Muscomorpha
Sectio: Schizophora
Subsectio: Acalyptrata
Superfamilia: Carnoidea

Familia: Chloropidae
Subfamilia: Oscinellinae
Genus: Hippelates
References

Holder, P. 2009: Old fly, new trick: Hippelates insignificans (Malloch, 1931) (Diptera: Chloropidae) biting humans. Weta, 38: 13–16. ISSN 0111-7696

Hippelates is a genus of flies in the family Chloropidae and are often referred to as eye gnats or eye flies (the name is also used for members of the Old World genus Siphunculina).

Description

They are very small (1.5–2.5 millimetres or 0.06–0.10 inches long) flies that frequently congregate around the eyes to lap at the fluids. They are primarily a nuisance pest, and do not bite. They have been linked with the spread of bovine mastitis in North America, and in certain tropical regions, they are capable of vectoring disease-causing bacteria (e.g., yaws).

Hippelates pusio is considered to be the vector for anaplasmosis, bovine mastitis, and Haemophilus spp. which cause bacterial conjunctivitis or 'pinkeye'.[1]
Distribution

Hippelates are Neotropical and Nearctic in distribution.[2]
Species

Hippelates bishoppi
Hippelates dorsalis Loew, 1869
Hippelates genalis Loew, 1869
Hippelates impressus Becker, 1912
Hippelates nobilis Loew, 1863
Hippelates pallipes Loew, 1863
Hippelates plebejus Loew, 1863
Hippelates proboscideus Williston, 1896
Hippelates pusio Loew
Hippelates saundersi Kumm, 1936

References

http://ipm.ncsu.edu/AG369/notes/eye_gnats.html

Sabrosky, Curtis W. Nomenclature of the Eye Gnats (Hippelates spp.) Am J Trop Med 1951 s1-31: 257-258 full text

External links

Entomological Society of Washington