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]
| Microdon mutabilis | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Syrphidae |
| Genus: | Microdon |
| Species: | M. mutabilis
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| Binomial name | |
| Microdon mutabilis | |
| Synonyms | |
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Description
editWing 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]
References
edit- ^ Donisthorpe, H. St. J. (1927). The guests of British ants : their habits and life-histories. London: Routledge. p. 244.
- ^ Stubbs, Alan E. & Falk, Steven J. (1983). British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide. British Entomological & Natural History Society. pp. 253, xvpp.
- ^ "Microdon mutabilis (Linnaeus, 1758)". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ Doczkal, D. & Schmid, U. (1999). "Revision der mitteleuropäischen Arten der Gattung Microdon Meigen (Diptera, Syrphidae)". Volucella. 4: 45-68.
- ^ Van Veen, M. (2004) Hoverflies of Northwest Europe: Identification Keys to the Syrphidae. 256pp. KNNV Publishing, Utrecht.addendum
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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
- ^ Coe, R. L. (1953). "Diptera: Syrphidae". Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects. 10 (1): 1-98. Royal Entomological Society.
- ^ Speight, M. C. D. (2011). "Species accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera)" (PDF). Syrph the Net, the Database of European Syrphidae. 65: 285pp.
External links
edit- "Taxonomy Browser: Microdon mutabilis". Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD). Retrieved July 12, 2020. With images.
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