| Platystoma seminationis | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Platystomatidae |
| Genus: | Platystoma |
| Species: | P. seminationis |
| Binomial name | |
| Platystoma seminationis (Fabricius, 1775) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Platystoma seminationis, the dancing "kiss fly", is a species of fly in the family Platystomatidae. [2]
Subspecies include: [2] [3]
This species is present in most of Europe (Austria, Belgium, United Kingdom, Russia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands and Ukraine) and in the Near East. [3] [4] It is adventive in North America. [5] [6]
These flies inhabit forest fringes or hedges, primarily on low herbaceous vegetation in shady places.
Platystoma seminationis can reach a body length of 5.5–6.5 millimetres (0.22–0.26 in). In these flies the interocular space and the epistomes are black and the eyes are reddish-brown. Thorax is greyish. The wings are translucent, greyish brown, with light spots. The abdomen is black, without punctuation. Tarsi are monochromatic black. The largest tarsal segments are reddish near the base, or show reddish hairs on lower side. Moreover halteres have a blackish brown club. [4] [7]
Adults can be found from May to October. [8] They mainly feed on nectar and pollen of the cypress spurge ( Euphorbia cyparissias ), green spurge ( Euphorbia esula ) and other Euphorbiaceae, as well as on feces. Larvae develop in and feed on decaying vegetable material, [8] on mushrooms and on roots of mushroom-infected plants and are probably saprophages. [5]
These flies have a highly developed ritual of courtship, during which after a dance of rapprochement the male and female "kiss" each other, touching together with their large proboscis for 5-15 seconds. [9] [10]
Phelsuma breviceps is a diurnal species of gecko that is native to south-west Madagascar and typically dwells on trees and bushes. Its diet in the wild consists mainly of insects.
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The purple thorn is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1767. It is a species of both Northern Europe and Central Europe. It has a scattered distribution in Britain but is absent from Ireland.
The Phoridae are a family of small, hump-backed flies resembling fruit flies. Phorid flies can often be identified by their escape habit of running rapidly across a surface rather than taking to the wing. This behaviour is a source of one of their alternate names, scuttle fly. Another vernacular name, coffin fly, refers to Conicera tibialis. About 4,000 species are known in 230 genera. The most well-known species is cosmopolitan Megaselia scalaris. At 0.4 mm in length, the world's smallest fly is the phorid Euryplatea nanaknihali.
Apamea remissa, the dusky brocade, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout Europe and Turkey, ranging across the Palearctic realm to Siberia, Manchuria and Japan. It has also been reported from Alaska.
Hyles euphorbiae, the spurge hawk-moth, is a European moth of the family Sphingidae. It has been found in Pontresina, Switzerland. This hawk moth is used as an agent of biological pest control against the noxious weed leafy spurge, but usually only in conjunction with other agents. The larvae consume the leaves and bracts of the plant. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
Archbold's newtonia is a species of bird in the family Vangidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. The birds have a greyish brown back and tail, with a rufous forecrown and a buffy white belly, throat, and undertail coverts. They have a conspicuous rufous eye-ring, accompanied with a black bill and pale yellow eyes. The species is sexually monomorphic, and there is no major difference between the sexes. There is no breeding plumage for the males.
Euphorbia corollata is an herbaceous perennial plant in the family Euphorbiaceae that is native to North America. A common name for the species is flowering spurge. It has a milky sap that can cause skin and eye irritation in some people. It grows up to 1 m (3 ft) tall, with smooth stems and light green leaves arranged alternately or in whorls. Leaves are about 10 mm wide and 75 mm (3 in) long. Each stem terminates in a panicle 20 to 25 mm across. Flowers are about 6 mm across and consist of one pistillate and several staminate flowers surrounded by five white bracts - not petals but formed from the involucre at the base of the flowers. Flowering spurge blooms from June to September.
Rhagoletis juglandis, also known as the walnut husk fly, is a species of tephritid or fruit fly in the family Tephritidae. It is closely related to the walnut husk maggot Rhagoletis suavis. This species of fly belongs to the R. suavis group, which has a natural history consistent with allopatric speciation. The flies belonging to this group are morphologically distinguishable.
Scaeva pyrastri, common name the pied hoverfly, is a species of hoverfly.
Hydriomena furcata, the July highflyer, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Peter Thunberg in 1784. It is found in the Holarctic ecozone.
Empis ciliata, the black dance fly, is a species of dance fly, in the fly family Empididae. It is included in the subgenus Euempis.
Coremacera marginata is a species of fly in the family Sciomyzidae, the marsh flies or snail-killing flies.
Platystoma is a genus of flies (Diptera) belonging to the family Platystomatidae.
Euthycera chaerophylli is a species of fly in the family Sciomyzidae, the marsh flies or snail-killing flies.
Terellia serratulae is a species of tephritid or fruit flies in the family Tephritidae.
Anthomyia procellaris is a species of fly in the family Anthomyiidae.
Terellia tussilaginis, the gall fly, is a species of tephritid or fruit flies in the family Tephritidae.
Platystoma lugubre is a species of fly in the family Platystomatidae.
Helophilus obscurus , the Obscure Marsh Fly, is a common species of syrphid fly observed throughout Canada and the northern United States and Rocky Mountains. Hoverflies can remain nearly motionless in flight. The adults are also known as flower flies for they are commonly found on flowers, from which they get both energy-giving nectar and protein-rich pollen. The larvae of this genus are associated with wet decaying organic material, particularly accumulations of decaying vegetation in ponds and mud and farmyard manure or silage the larvae of this species are not known.