Tephritidae Newman, 1834

Medium sized (2.0-8.0 mm) acalyptrate Brachycera, with often brightly coloured and/or patterned bodies. Eyes dichoptic; ocelli present; antenna short and stout. Wing rather short and wide, with a distinct anal lobe; prominently patterned. Legs short and stout. Females with an ovipositor (aculeus), a piercing organ for inserting eggs into plant tissues. Tephritids are often called fruit flies because the larvae of most species inhabit the fruits or other seed-bearing organs of flowering plants (Merz 1994, White 1988). The larvae are phytophagous (monophagous, polyphagous); some species are leaf-miners and stem-borers, whilst others live in roots. Most Czech and Slovak tephritids are associated with composite plants (Asteraceae), and many of these form galls in the capitulum (flower head), stem or root system. The adults feed on pollen and nectar (Kinkorová 1999b, Merz 1994, White 1988). Some species are pests, whilst others are beneficial biological control agents of weeds.

Altogether 267 species are known to occur in Europe and adjacent areas, as included in the Fauna Europaea (Merz & Korneyev 2007); 118 are listed in the present checklist: 113 in the Czech Republic (99 in Bohemia, 98 in Moravia) and 102 in Slovakia. Since the ECV1 (Kinkorová 2006), the number of species has increased in the Czech Republic by eight (nine in Bohemia, six in Moravia) and in Slovakia by five. All changes in the distributional data made in the last version of the checklist were reflected in the Fauna Europaea (Merz & Korneyev 2007) except the presence of Xyphosia laticauda (Meigen, 1826) in the Czech Republic. A new record of Orellia scorzonerae (Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830) from Slovakia (by Straka & Majzlan 2007, as Orellia distans) needs further revision and therefore is not included in the present checklist. The species richness of the fruit fly fauna is well known in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The basic characteristics of the family were given by White (1988), Merz (1994) and Kinkorová (1999b). All the Czech species can be reliably distinguishable by their morphological features and wing pattern, and also by the structure of the male and female terminalia. They can be identified using the key and figures by White and Merz (White 1988, Merz 1994). The nomenclature of the present checklist follows that of the Fauna Europaea (Merz 1994, Merz & Korneyev 2007, White 1988).