Milichiidae

Myrmecophily has been known in the fly family Milichiidae for more than a hundred years. Most cases involve larvae that live in ant nests (Donisthorpe 1927; Sabrosky 1959; Moser & Neff 1971; Waller 1980), but a group of short-faced Milichia species exhibit myrmecophilous behaviour in the adult stage, mostly in connection with myrmicine ants in the genus Crematogaster. Milichia dectes Collin, 1922, M. proectes Collin, 1922, M. prosaetes Collin, 1922 and probably also M. farquharsoni Collin, 1922 solicit regurgitated food from Crematogaster workers (Farquharson 1919, 1922). In one case involving Milichia dectes, the ant was identified as Crematogaster buchneri. Two species have been observed licking the anal secretions of ants: Milichia myrmecophila de Meijere, 1909, those of Crematogaster difformis, and Milichia brevirostris (de Meijere, 1910), those of Dolichoderus thoracicus (as Dolichoderus bituberculatus).

Wild & Brake (2009) reported on Milichia patrizii Hennig, 1952, a species not previously known to be a myrmecophile, in South Africa. However, the holotype label states that the species is a commensal of Crematogaster, and an unidentified Crematogaster worker specimen (possibly Crematogaster schultzei) is mounted on the same pin as the fly. Milichia patrizii belongs to the myrmecophila species-group within the short-faced group of Milichia species (Brake 1999).