Microdon mutabilis

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Microdon mutabilis
Microdon mutabilis.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Syrphidae
Genus: Microdon
Species:
M. mutabilis
Binomial name
Microdon mutabilis
Synonyms
  • Microdon apiformis(De Geer, 1776)
  • Musca apiformisDe Geer, 1776
  • Musca mutabilisLinnaeus, 1758

Microdon mutabilis, is a species of hoverfly. It is found in many parts of Britain and Europe. The distinctive almost slug-like larvae live in ants' nests. [1] They are hemispherical in shape, heavily armoured and believed to prey on the eggs and larvae of a number of ant species, including Formica lemani , Formica fusca , Lasius niger and Myrmica ruginodis . [2] It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. [3]

Contents

Description

Wing length 6–9 mm. Pterostigma 2-2.5 times as long as the length of the wing margin between ends of wing veins R1 and R2+3. Scutellum red or dark red. The male genitalia are figured by Doczkal and Schmid (1999). [4] Note M. mutabilis is only reliably distinguished from M. myrmicae by features of the puparium. See references for determination. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Microdon</i> Genus of flies

Hover flies 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.

<i>Eristalis arbustorum</i> Species of insect

Eristalis arbustorum , the European drone fly, is an abundant Northern Hemisphere species of syrphid fly, originally first officially described by Linnaeus in 1758 as Musca arbustorum. The name "drone fly" is related to its similar appearance to the drone of the honeybee. Hoverflies get their names from the ability to remain nearly motionless while in flight. The adults, also known as flower flies for they are commonly found around and on flowers from which they get both energy-giving nectar and protein rich pollen. The larvae are aquatic filter-feeders of the long-tailed type.

<i>Chrysotoxum bicinctum</i> Species of fly

Chrysotoxum bicinctum is a species of hoverfly.

<i>Eristalis horticola</i> Species of fly

Eristalis horticola is a Palearctic species of hoverfly.

<i>Myathropa florea</i> Species of fly

Myathropa florea is a very common European and North African species of hoverfly. Adults may be seen on flowers from May to September. It is of a similar size to the common drone fly, but Myathropa are generally more yellow, with two light bands to the thorax, interrupted with a black central smudge. In museum specimens, any yellow colour soon fades to brown after death. Like most Eristalini, Myathropa are rather variable in size, shape and colour.

<i>Xylota sylvarum</i> Genus of flies

Xylota sylvarum is a common Palearctic species of hoverfly.

<i>Didea fasciata</i> Species of fly

Didea fasciata is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.

<i>Leucozona laternaria</i> Species of fly

Leucozona laternaria is a European species of hoverfly.

<i>Microdon analis</i> Species of fly

Microdon analis, is a species of hoverfly. It is found in the Palearctic. The distinctive almost slug-like larvae live in ants nests. The larvae are hemispherical in shape and heavily armoured. They are believed to prey on the eggs and larvae of a number of different ant species, notably Lasius niger and the Formica rufa group. These ants are usually found on heathland. However Schmid (2004) claims that Microdon analis and M. major which are cryptic species have been confused under the name analis. M.major is apparently associated with ants of the genus Formica, the other species, M.analis, with Lasius species.

<i>Cheilosia albitarsis</i> Species of fly

Cheilosia albitarsis is an abundant European species of hoverfly. Adults can be found in spring visiting buttercup flowers and this plant is also the larval hostplant.

<i>Ferdinandea cuprea</i> Species of fly

Ferdinandea cuprea is a European species of hoverfly notable for its brassy abdomen. The larvae have been found in sap from trunk damage on oak and ash.

<i>Pipiza noctiluca</i> Species of fly

Pipiza noctiluca is a species of Hoverfly, from the family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera.

<i>Parasyrphus vittiger</i> Species of fly

Parasyrphus vittiger is a species of hoverfly, from the family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera.

Melangyna arctica is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.

<i>Dasysyrphus pinastri</i> Species of fly

Dasysyrphus pinastri is a species of hoverfly found in Europe.

<i>Philhelius citrofasciatus</i> Species of fly

Philhelius citrofasciatus is a species of hoverfly found in grasslands from Ireland to western Siberia. The larvae live in ant Lasius colonies where they feed on the aphids tended by the ants. Prior to 2018, it was known under the genus name Xanthogramma, a junior synonym.

<i>Eumerus funeralis</i> Species of fly

Eumerus funeralis or lesser bulb fly is a species of Hoverfly, from the family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera. E. funeralis appears in Peck (1988) as a synonym of E. strigatus (Fallen), but was reinstated as the correct name for tuberculatus Rondani, sensu auctorum by Speight et al. (1998).

<i>Cheilosia impressa</i> Species of fly

Cheilosia impressa is a Palearctic species of hoverfly. Like most members of its genus C. impressa is a rather small, dark insect and identification can be problematic.

<i>Brachyopa insensilis</i> Species of fly

Brachyopa insensilis is a Palearctic species of hoverflies.

<i>Brachyopa scutellaris</i> Species of fly

Brachyopa scutellaris is a European species of hoverfly.

References

  1. ↑ Donisthorpe, H. St. J. (1927). The guests of British ants : their habits and life-histories. London: Routledge. p. 244.
  2. ↑ Stubbs, Alan E. & Falk, Steven J. (1983). British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide. British Entomological & Natural History Society. pp. 253, xvpp.
  3. ↑ "Microdon mutabilis (Linnaeus, 1758)". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  4. ↑ Doczkal, D. & Schmid, U. (1999). "Revision der mitteleuropäischen Arten der Gattung Microdon Meigen (Diptera, Syrphidae)". Volucella. 4: 45-68.
  5. ↑ Van Veen, M. (2004) Hoverflies of Northwest Europe: Identification Keys to the Syrphidae. 256pp. KNNV Publishing, Utrecht.addendum
  6. ↑ Van der Goot, V. S. (1981). De zweefvliegen van Noordwest - Europa en Europees Rusland, in het bijzonder van de Benelux. KNNV, Uitgave no.32: 275pp. Amsterdam.
  7. ↑ Bei-Bienko, G. Y. & Steyskal, G. C. (1988). Keys to the Insects of the European Part of the USSR, Volume V: Diptera and Siphonaptera, Part I. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi. ISBN   81-205-0080-6
  8. ↑ Coe, R. L. (1953). "Diptera: Syrphidae". Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects. 10 (1): 1-98. Royal Entomological Society.
  9. ↑ Speight, M. C. D. (2011). "Species accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera)" (PDF). Syrph the Net, the Database of European Syrphidae. 65: 285pp.


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