Psychodidae

Mothflies

DIPTERA > NEMATOCERA | Lower Diptera

PSYCHODOMORPHA > Psychodoidea > Psychodidae (100 species)

(subfamilies: Psychodinae, Sycoracinae and Trichomyiinae)

Members of this family are easily recognisable simply by their tiny size, stance and distinct appearance with hairy wings and antennae that resemble a string of beads. Unfortunately, in most cases, that's probably as good as it will get from photos as they are extremely difficult to identify to species. Some experts may be able to confirm the subfamily but otherwise, apart from the possible exception of the genus Boreoclytocerus as noted below, this page purely acts as a photo gallery for a few representative species.

They are generally described as small (2-6mm), thickly haired, often stout, moth-like flies; ocelli absent in the Psychodinae, the largest and most common subfamily; wings are typically broad and pointed, rarely more than 4mm long and with numerous unconnected parallel veins.

Alternative common names are; owl fly or owl midge, or drain fly.

Most species are attracted to light and, consequently, may be found indoors on windowsills or in the kitchen, especially around the sink or on adjacent windows. That said, I've rarely seen any at home and, apart from a couple of co-operative individuals I photographed a few years back, all the others that I've seen more recently have been in various wetland areas. Indeed, this is the type of habitat where the larvae of many species will develop and, as with most dipteran species, the adults typically tend to remain in close proximity to the larval breeding grounds. Dependent on the species though, the larvae may also be found in other semi-aquatic habitats, including damp soil, compost heaps, mosses, fungi or even sewage.

Apart from their general appearance, mothflies have a distinctive look when resting and walking as they tend to hold their wings either tent-like above the abdomen or beside in a broad V-shape.

The following photos are mostly captioned as Psychodinae sp., but there a couple of individuals that were identified as either Clytocerus sp., or Boreoclytocerus ocellaris. I think I'm right in saying that Clytocerus is now retained for Afrotropical species with Boreoclytocerus being a relatively new adopted genus for Palaearctic species. The British List recognises three species, although the NBN Atlas database only confirms records for Boreoclytocerus ocellaris. I was intrigued why this genus is distinguishable from photos and found the reason to be that the antennae have an elongate scape, at least five times longer than wide, and that the third segment has a characteristic brush of hairs. I subsequently read though, that the feature is only diagnostic of males.