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Microdon mutabilis

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Species of fly

Microdon mutabilis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Syrphidae
Genus: Microdon
Species: M. mutabilis
Binomial name
Microdon mutabilis
(Linnaeus, 1758)
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. 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. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

Description

For terms see Morphology of Diptera

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). Note M. mutabilis is only reliably distinguished from M. myrmicae by features of the puparium. See references for determination.

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.

External links

Taxon identifiers
Microdon mutabilis


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