Medical significance

Abstract

Many of the most important insect vectors of serious disease to humans and livestock are flies. The mosquitoes (Culicidae), blackflies (Simuliidae) and biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) are familiar vectors belonging to the dipteran suborder Nematocera. This group includes many flies in which females feed on vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. A vertebrate blood meal may be required for egg maturation: during the feeding process parasites may be transferred from fly to host or vice-versa. Complex coevolutionary life history adaptations have taken place in the host and parasite involving the pathogens of diseases such as malaria, dengue, river blindness and blue tongue.