Microdon
Encyclopedia
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. 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 .
e 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 apical calcars
and wing vein R4+5 with an appendix. They have simple legs and abdomen.
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 insect
s. They are slow moving. Most have the spiracles on a peg-like protuberance extending from the end of the abdomen.
Larvae may be found very deep in ant colonies. Some species actively feed on ant larvae in the colony, 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.
Diptera
Diptera , or true flies, is the order of insects possessing only a single pair of wings on the mesothorax; the metathorax bears a pair of drumstick like structures called the halteres, the remnants of the hind wings. It is a large order, containing an estimated 240,000 species, although under half...
. 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
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
; 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 .
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 antennaAntenna (biology)
Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....
e 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 apical calcars
CalCars
CalCars is a charitable, non-profit organization founded in 2002 to promote plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as a key to addressing oil dependence and global warming both nationally and internationally...
and wing vein R4+5 with an appendix. They have simple legs and abdomen.
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 insect
Scale insect
The scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, generally classified as the superfamily Coccoidea. There are about 8,000 species of scale insects.-Ecology:...
s. 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, 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
- Microdon abditus Thompson, 1981
- Microdon abstrusus Thompson, 1981
- Microdon adventitius Thompson, 1981
- Microdon albicomatus Novak, 1977
- Microdon analisMicrodon analisMicrodon analis, 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. 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,...
(MacquartJustin Pierre Marie MacquartJustin Pierre Marie Macquart was a French entomologist specialising in the study of Diptera. He worked on world species as well as European and described many new species.-Early years:...
, 1842) - Microdon aurulentus (FabriciusJohan Christian FabriciusJohan Christian Fabricius was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others...
, 1805) - Microdon baliopterus LoewHermann LoewFriedrich Hermann Loew was a German entomologist who specialised in the study of Diptera, an order of insects including flies, mosquitoes, gnats and midges...
, 1872 - Microdon brunetti Sodhi & Singh, 1991
- Microdon carolae (Capelle, 1956)
- Microdon coarctatus LoewHermann LoewFriedrich Hermann Loew was a German entomologist who specialised in the study of Diptera, an order of insects including flies, mosquitoes, gnats and midges...
, 1864 - Microdon cothurnatus BigotJacques-Marie-Frangile BigotJacques Marie Frangile Bigot was a French naturalist and entomologist most noted for his studies of Diptera. Born in Paris, where he lived all his life, though he had a small house in Quincy-sous-Sénart, Essonne.He became a member of the Entomological Society of France in 1844. His first paper...
, 1883 - Microdon craigheadii Walton, 1912
- Microdon devius (Linnaeus, 1761)
- Microdon diversipilosus Curran, 1925
- Microdon eggeri MikJosef MikJosef Mik, also Joseph Mik was a Czech entomologist mainly interested in Diptera. He described many new species and made contributions to knowledge of the Diptera of Central Europe.Mik was the first dipterist to clarify the chaetotaxy of the legs." On the legs I distinguish a front [chaeta]- and a...
, 1897 - Microdon fulgens WiedemannChristian Rudolph Wilhelm WiedemannChristian Rudolph Wilhelm Wiedemann , was a German physician, historian, naturalist and entomologist...
, 1830 - Microdon fuscipennis (MacquartJustin Pierre Marie MacquartJustin Pierre Marie Macquart was a French entomologist specialising in the study of Diptera. He worked on world species as well as European and described many new species.-Early years:...
, 1834) - Microdon globosus (FabriciusJohan Christian FabriciusJohan Christian Fabricius was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others...
, 1805) - Microdon ignotus Violovitsh, 1976
- Microdon katsurai Maruyama & Hironaga, 2004
- Microdon laetoides FabriciusJohan Christian FabriciusJohan Christian Fabricius was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others...
, 1935 - Microdon laetus LoewHermann LoewFriedrich Hermann Loew was a German entomologist who specialised in the study of Diptera, an order of insects including flies, mosquitoes, gnats and midges...
, 1864 - Microdon lanceolatus Adams, 1903
- Microdon lateus Violovitsh, 1976
- Microdon latifrons LoewHermann LoewFriedrich Hermann Loew was a German entomologist who specialised in the study of Diptera, an order of insects including flies, mosquitoes, gnats and midges...
, 1856 - Microdon manitobensis Curran, 1924
- Microdon maritimus Violovitsh, 1976
- Microdon marmoratum BigotJacques-Marie-Frangile BigotJacques Marie Frangile Bigot was a French naturalist and entomologist most noted for his studies of Diptera. Born in Paris, where he lived all his life, though he had a small house in Quincy-sous-Sénart, Essonne.He became a member of the Entomological Society of France in 1844. His first paper...
, 1883 - Microdon megalogaster Snow, 1892
- Microdon miki Doczkal & Schmid 1999
- Microdon mutabilisMicrodon mutabilisMicrodon 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 prey on the eggs and larvae of a number of ant species, including Formica lemani,...
(Linnaeus 175810th edition of Systema NaturaeThe 10th edition of Systema Naturae was a book written by Carl Linnaeus and published in two volumes in 1758 and 1759, which marks the starting point of zoological nomenclature...
) - Microdon myrmicae Schönrogge et al., 2002
- Microdon mysa Violovitsh, 1971
- Microdon newcomeri Mann, 1924
- Microdon ocellaris Curran, 1924
- Microdon painteri Hull, 1922
- Microdon pallipennis Curran, 1925
- Microdon piperi Knab, 1917
- Microdon ruficrus Williston, 1887
- Microdon rufipes (MacquartJustin Pierre Marie MacquartJustin Pierre Marie Macquart was a French entomologist specialising in the study of Diptera. He worked on world species as well as European and described many new species.-Early years:...
, 1842) - Microdon scutifer Knab, 1917
- Microdon sophianus Drensky 1934
- Microdon tristis LoewHermann LoewFriedrich Hermann Loew was a German entomologist who specialised in the study of Diptera, an order of insects including flies, mosquitoes, gnats and midges...
, 1864 - Microdon ursitarsis Stackelberg, 1926
- Microdon viridis Townsend, 1895
- Microdon xanthopilis Towsend, 1895