| Braulidae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Braula coeca on the head of an East African lowland honey bee | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Superfamily: | Carnoidea |
| Family: | Braulidae Egger, 1853 |
| Genera | |
Braulidae, or bee lice, is a family of true flies (Diptera) with seven species in two genera, Braula and Megabraula.[2] They are found in honey bee colonies due to their phoretic, inquiline, and kleptoparasitic relationships with the bees. Similar in appearance but not closely related to keds, these flies are also small, wingless, and occasionally mistaken[2] for mites or lice, hence their common name.
- ^ Nitzsch, C.L. (1818). "Die Familien und Gattungen der Thierinsekten (Insecta epizoica) als Prodromus einer Naturgeschichte derselben" (PDF). Mag. Ent. (Germar). 3: 261–316. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ a b c Grimaldi, D.; Underwood, B.A. (1986). "Megabraula, a new genus for two new species of Braulidae (Diptera), and a discussion of braulid evolution". Systematic Entomology. 11 (4): 427–438. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.1986.tb00534.x. S2CID 84610905.