Csóka, György and Kovács, Tibor (1999): Xilofág rovarok - Xylophagous insects. Hungarian Forest Research Institute. Erdészeti Turományos Intézet, Agroinform Kiadó, Budapest, 189 pp.
Many families of this extremely rich order include xylophagous species. The family of xylophagid flies (Xylophagidae) is represented by a single species (Xylophagus ater) in Hungary. Its larvae feed beneath the decaying bark of a range of broad-leaved and coniferous trees. The majority of larvae of hover flies (Syrphidae) is carnivorous but ca. 100 European species are saproxylic. The majority of these species belong to the subfamily Milesiinae. Their larvae develop in humid decaying wood. Other species live in galleries of larger xylophages (Cossus cossus and Cerambyx species for example), feeding on woodchips and frass left in the tunnels. Some species of the crane flies (Tipulidae) have a similar life history. Quite a few species, which develop inside trunk and branches - mainly relatively thin ones - of woody plants are known in the extremely species-rich family Cecidomyiidae, commonly known as gall midges. The females oviposit into wounds and the hatching larvae bore into the cambium, where they develop. Their feeding causes necrosis in the attacked tissues. A very similar life history is known for some species in the family Agromyzidae. They are common mainly in soft broad-leaved trees (Populus, Salix), causing significant damage to the value of the timber.
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