| Microdon | |
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| Microdon mutabilis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Suborder: | Brachycera |
| Infraorder: | Muscomorpha |
| Section: | Aschiza |
| Superfamily: | Syrphoidea |
| Family: | Syrphidae |
| Subfamily: | Microdontinae |
| Genus: | Microdon Meigen, 1803 |
| Type species | |
| Musca mutabilis Linnaeus 1758 |
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| Species | |
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see text |
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| Synonyms | |
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Hover flies (family Syrphidae) of the genus Microdon are unusual among the Diptera. Like other members of the subfamily, they are myrmecophiles, meaning they inhabit the nests of ants. There are 249 species are known worldwide, with the greatest diversity being from the tropics; 30 species are known from North America, though it is exepecteted that many of these spcies will be placed in other genera in time , as Microdon has been used as a catch all for various unrelated species not placed in other genera [1][2].
Contents |
Appearance
Microdon adults look more or less like typical flies. Like some other hover flies, they are generally robust and very hairy, often closely resembling bees. They are between 8 and 15 mm long. The antennae are rather long, with the last (third) segment nearly as long as, or sometimes significantly longer than, the first segment; the antennae are nearly as long as the fly's face. These flies are clothed in black or pale (white or golden) hairs, and are themselves either black or metallic green or blue. The scutellum is with with apical calcars and wing vein R4+5 with an appendix. They have simple legs and abdomen.[1]
The real oddity of the genus Microdon is in its larvae and pupae. These are dome-shaped and look like stout little slugs. Their appearance originally led scientists to describe them as mollusks and scale insects [3]. They are slow moving. Most have the spiracles on a peg-like protuberance extending from the end of the abdomen.
Behaviour
Adult Microdon flies do not behave like other syrphid flies: they do not hover around flowers but instead remain very near the ant colonies which serve as larval hosts.
Larvae may be found very deep in ant colonies. Some species actively feed on ant larvae in the colony [3], others are speculated to be scavengers. Microdon larvae are more or less restricted in their ant host species. Some Microdon have only ever been found in the colonies of a single ant species, while others are restriced to related ant species or genera. Because these flies have such cryptic life cycles, biological information on most species is limited.
Species
- M. abditus Thompson, 1981[2]
- M. abstrusus Thompson, 1981[2]
- M. adventitius Thompson, 1981[2]
- M. albicomatus Novak, 1977
- M. analis (Macquart, 1842)[4]
- M. aurulentus (Fabricius, 1805)
- M. baliopterus Loew, 1872
- M. brunetti Sodhi & Singh, 1991[5]
- M. carolae (Capelle, 1956)
- M. coarctatus Loew, 1864
- M. cothurnatus Bigot, 1883
- M. craigheadii Walton, 1912
- M. devius (Linnaeus, 1761)[4]
- M. diversipilosus Curran, 1925
- M. eggeri Mik, 1897[6]
- M. fulgens Wiedemann, 1830
- M. fuscipennis (Macquart, 1834)[3]
- M. globosus (Fabricius, 1805)
- M. ignotus Violovitsh, 1976[6]
- M. katsurai Maruyama & Hironaga, 2004 [7]
- M. laetoides Fabricius, 1935
- M. laetus Loew, 1864
- M. lanceolatus Adams, 1903
- M. lateus Violovitsh, 1976[6]
- M. latifrons Loew, 1856[6]
- M. manitobensis Curran, 1924
- M. maritimus Violovitsh, 1976[6]
- M. marmoratum Bigot, 1883
- M. megalogaster Snow, 1892
- M. miki Doczkal & Schmid 1999
- M. mutabilis (Linnaeus 1758 )[4]
- M. myrmicae Schönrogge et al., 2002
- M. mysa Violovitsh, 1971[6]
- M. newcomeri Mann, 1924
- M. ocellaris Curran, 1924
- M. painteri Hull, 1922
- M. pallipennis Curran, 1925
- M. piperi Knab, 1917
- M. ruficrus Williston, 1887
- M. rufipes (Macquart, 1842)
- M. scutifer Knab, 1917
- M. sophianus Drensky 1934
- M. tristis Loew, 1864
- M. ursitarsis Stackelberg, 1926[6]
- M. viridis Townsend, 1895
- M. xanthopilis Towsend, 1895
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
References
- ^ a b Cheng, Xin-Yue; Thompson, F. Christian (2008). "A generic conspectus of the Microdontinae (Diptera: Syrphidae) with the description of two new genera from Africa and China" (PDF Adobe Acrobat). Zootaxa (New Zealand: Magnolia Press) 1879: 21–48. ISSN 1175-5334. http://mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/zt01879p048.pdf. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
- ^ a b c d Thompson, F.C (1981). "Revisionary notes on Nearctic Microdon flies (Diptera: Syrphidae)". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington (Washington D.C.: Allen Press) 83: 725–758. ISSN 0013-8797.
- ^ a b c Duffield, R.M (1981). "Biology of Microdon fuscipennis (Diptera: Syrphidae) with interpretation of reproductive strategies of Microdon species found north of Mexico.". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington (Washington D.C.: Allen Press) 83: 716–724.. ISSN 0013-8797.
- ^ a b c Stubbs, Alan E. and Falk, Steven J. (1983). British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide. British Entomological & Natural History Society. pp. 253, xvpp.
- ^ Sodhi, N.S.; Singh A. (1991). "Three new species of family Syrphidae (Diptera) from India.". Acta zoologica cracoviensia. b 34 (1): 315–322.
- ^ a b c d e f g Barkalov, A.V. "Syrphidae collection of Siberian Zoological Museum". Novosibirsk, Russia: the Institute of Animal Systematics and Ecology, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. http://szmn.sbras.ru/Diptera/Syrphidae.htm. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
- ^ Maruyama, Munetoshi; Hironaga, Teruhiko (December 22, 2004). "Microdon katsurai, a New Species of Myrmecophilous Hoverfly (Diptera, Syrphidae) from Japan, Associated with Polyrhachis lamellidens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)" (PDF/Adobe Achrobat). Bulletin of the National Science Museum. A (Tokyo: National Science Museum, Tokyo) 30 (4): 173–179. http://www.myrmecophile.net/maruyama/papers/kenran.pdf.
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