Bladder flies
Bladder flies | ||||||||||||
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Four-lipped thick-headed fly ( Conops quadrifasciatus ) |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Conopidae | ||||||||||||
Latreille , 1802 | ||||||||||||
Subfamilies | ||||||||||||
Bladder-head flies (Conopidae), also called thick-headed flies , are a family of two-winged flies ( Diptera). Within these, they are assigned to the flies (Brachycera). These are small to medium-sized flies that are characterized by an inflated head.
Features of the bladder fly
The bladder flies reach a body length of three to 18 millimeters and can have a very different shape. What they all have in common is the large, puffed-up head, which often has a translucent forehead bladder. The trunk is short and thick or drawn out characteristically long. Some species have "whiskers". The wings are long and narrow and transparent, but sometimes also purple or brownish in color. The chest area is sometimes equipped with dark spots and a characteristic silver markings.
The abdomen of the animals is variable. This can be short and thick as well as elongated, thin or even stalked like a wasp . Many species are strikingly colored, often like the hover flies (Syrphidae) in shades of yellow and brown. A noticeable feature of the Dallmannia species is a long laying tube hammered into the stomach.
Lifestyle of the bladder flies
The bladder-head flies are flower visitors and feed on nectar . Some species can be found very early in the year in early bloomers such as willows , blackthorns and thistles . Later species usually fly on daisy family and Carrot . The animals often sit on sunlit leaves, especially in the morning.
Bladder-head flies can be observed particularly frequently in dry and semi- arid grasslands , where they also find the hosts for their offspring: ( bumblebees and wasps ).
Reproduction and development
The bladder flies are parasitoids , they develop in various other insects. Their main hosts are bumblebees and wasps, and more rarely grasshoppers . Many species are relatively unspecific in the choice of their hosts, and the size of the animals of the same species varies accordingly. The eggs are laid in flight on sedentary or slow-flying host animals. The larvae hatch and invade the abdomen of the hosts who eat them up. The wintering takes place in the dead host.
Systematics
The Conopidae family consists of 830 species in 52 genera. The bladder-head fly family is represented in Europe with around 14 genera and over 80 species.
Genera in Europe
Genera in Europe and assignment to the higher taxa:
- Conopinae
- Conopini
- incertae sedis
- Dalmanniinae
- Myopinae
- Myopini
- Sicini
- incertae sedis
Species in Europe
Below is a list of the species in Europe:
- Umbels short snout stubborn fly ( Abrachyglossum capitatum ) ( Loew , 1847)
- Brachyceraea brevicornis ( Loew , 1847)
- Bright wasp thick-headed fly ( Conops ceriaeformis ) Meigen , 1824
- Conops elegans Meigen , 1824
- Conops flavicaudus ( Bigot , 1880)
- Conops flavifrons Meigen , 1824
- Conops flavipes Linnaeus , 1758
- Conops insignis Loew , 1848
- Conops longiventris Kröber , 1916
- Conops maculatus Macquart , 1834
- Four-lipped thick-headed fly or yellow-footed wasp's big -head fly ( Conops quadrifasciatus ) De Geer , 1776
- Conops rufiventris Macquart , 1849
- Conops scutellatus Meigen , 1804
- Conops silaceus Wiedemann in Meigen , 1824
- Conops strigatus Wiedemann in Meigen , 1824
- Large wasp thick-headed fly ( Conops vesicularis ) Linnaeus , 1761
- Conops vitellinus Loew , 1847
- Conops weinbergae Camras & Chvála , 1984
- Dalmannia aculeata ( Linnaeus , 1761)
- Dalmannia confusa Becker , 1923
- Dalmannia dorsalis ( Fabricius , 1794)
- Dalmannia marginata ( Meigen , 1824)
- Dalmannia punctata ( Fabricius , 1794)
- Leopoldius brevirostris ( Germar , 1827)
- Leopoldius cabrilsensis Carles-Tolrá , 2000
- Leopoldius calceatus ( Rondani , 1857)
- Leopoldius coronatus ( Rondani , 1857)
- Leopoldius diadematus Rondani , 1845
- Leopoldius signatus ( Wiedemann in Meigen , 1824)
- Leopoldius valvatus Kröber , 1914
- Melanosoma bicolor ( Meigen , 1824)
- Melanosoma mundum Czerny , 1909
- Melanosoma nigritarse Strobl , 1902
- Myopa buccata ( Linnaeus , 1758)
- Myopa curtirostris Kröber , 1916
- Myopa dorsalis Fabricius , 1794
- Myopa extricata Collin , 1960
- Myopa fasciata Meigen , 1804
- Myopa minor Strobl , 1906
- Myopa mixta Frey , 1958
- Myopa morio Meigen , 1804
- Myopa occulta Wiedemann in Meigen , 1824
- Myopa picta tank , 1798
- Myopa polystigma Rondani , 1857
- Myopa stigma Meigen , 1824
- Myopa strandi Duda , 1940
- Early humpback-head fly ( Myopa tessellatipennis ) Motschulsky , 1859
- Myopa testacea ( Linnaeus , 1767)
- Myopa variegata Meigen , 1804
- Myopa vicaria Walker , 1849
- Myopotta pallipes ( Wiedemann in Meigen , 1824)
- Myopotta rubripes ( Villeneuve , 1909)
- Neobrachyglossum punctatum Kröber , 1915
- Physocephala antiqua ( Wiedemann , 1830)
- Physocephala chrysorrhoea ( Meigen , 1824)
- Physocephala curticornis Kröber , 1915
- Physocephala lacera ( Meigen , 1824)
- Physocephala laeta Becker , 1913
- Physocephala laticincta ( Brullé , 1832)
- Physocephala nigra ( De Geer , 1776)
- Physocephala pusilla ( Meigen , 1824)
- Dark stem-headed fly ( Physocephala rufipes ) ( Fabricius , 1781)
- Physocephala truncata ( Loew , 1847)
- Physocephala vaginalis ( Rondani , 1865)
- Physocephala variegata ( Meigen , 1824)
- Light-stemmed thickhead fly ( Physocephala vittata ) ( Fabricius , 1794)
- Sicus abdominalis Kröber , 1915
- Sicus alpinus Stuke , 2002
- Common broad-forehead bladder-head fly ( Sicus ferrugineus ) ( Linnaeus , 1761)
- Sicus fusenensis Ôuchi , 1939
- Sicus nigritarsis Zimina , 1975
- Thecophora atra ( Fabricius , 1775)
- Thecophora distincta ( Wiedemann in Meigen , 1824)
- Thecophora fulvipes ( Robineau-Desvoidy , 1830)
- Thecophora longirostris Lyneborg , 1962
- Thecophora melanopa Rondani , 1857
- Thecophora pusilla ( Meigen , 1824)
- Tropidomyia aureifacies Kröber , 1915
- Zodion cesium Becker , 1908
- Zodion carceli Robineau-Desvoidy , 1830
- Zodion cinereum ( Fabricius , 1794)
- Zodion erythrurum Rondani , 1865
- Zodion notatum ( Meigen , 1804)
photos
Here are some representatives of the genres present in Europe:
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ P. Schmid-Hempel, C. Müller, R. Schmid-Hempel, JA Shykoff: Frequency and ecological correlates of parasitism by conopid flies (Conopidae, Diptera) in populations of bumblebees. [Frequency and ecological correlates of parasitization by thick-headed flies (Conopidae, Diptera) in bumblebee populations] In: Insectes Sociaux , Volume 37, No. 1, March 1990, pp. 14-30.
- ↑ Conopidae . bugguide.net. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ↑ Conopidae. In: Fauna Europaea, Version 1.3. August 16, 2020, accessed June 2, 2008 .
literature
- Kurt Kormann: Hover flies and bubble-head flies of Central Europe. Fauna, Nottuln 2002, ISBN 3-935980-29-9 .