The larval biology of this family is actually quite diverse, including plant feeders (leaf miners, stem borers, or feeding in seed capsules), aquatic predators, and predators on other insect larvae in wet situations - such as piles of rotting vegetable matter, seaweed, or dung.

The adults are predators on other small insects, and while they are commonly seen on flowers, they are hunting prey there, rather than acting as pollinators.

The golden-yellow, densely pilose males of this species gather on cattle dung and may, in parts of its range, be observed at all times of the year.

The great majority are found in the Palearctic and Nearctic regions and the family is almost confined to the Northern Hemisphere, with only five species so far known from the Southern Hemisphere (and two of these are common northern species of Scathophaga, which have probably been imported with livestock into South Africa and Brazil).

These 61 genera belong to the family Scathophagidae: Data sources: i = ITIS,[1] c = Catalogue of Life,[2] g = GBIF,[3] b = Bugguide.net[4] Identification