Buquetia musca
| Buquetia musca | ||||||||||||
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Buquetia musca |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Buquetia musca | ||||||||||||
| Robineau-Desvoidy , 1847 |
Buquetia musca is a two-winged bird from the family of caterpillars (Tachinidae).
features
The flies are about 8 mm long. They have a gray-beige basic color. The area above the fron and parts of the thorax are colored light brown. From the front edge of the thorax, two distinct dark longitudinal lines run backwards. To the side of it and in between there are several short, dark vertical lines and spots. The head is whitish in color, the compound eyes are red-brown. The antennae and legs are black. The wings are transparent with a characteristic wing veining . The holders are cream-colored. The body is covered with long black bristles. The legs have black hairs. The first visible tergite is dark gray.
The red-brown cocoons in which the flies pupate are about 7 mm long.
distribution
Buquetia musca is native to the Palearctic . The species occurs in Central and Southern Europe as well as in the Mediterranean area. Apparently, the species is absent in Scandinavia and the British Isles .
Way of life
Buquetia musca only parasitizes the caterpillars of the swallowtail ( Papilio machaon ). The swallowtail forms two to three generations a year. The caterpillar flies may find their hosts on the basis of the caterpillars odorous substances or their forage plants. The caterpillar fly lays one or more eggs on the caterpillar. The hatched larvae penetrate their host, where they develop and eat it from the inside. In spring and summer, the fly larvae leave their host before it pupates. They pupate immediately after leaving, forming a cocoon. The time from the beginning of pupation to the hatching of the finished flies varies from just under two weeks to just under 2 months. In autumn, the caterpillars of the butterfly generation that overwintered are parasitized. The caterpillars usually pupate in early October. Here the actual larval development apparently only takes place during the pupal phase of the butterfly. The fly larva does not remain in its host pupa all winter, but leaves the host pupa in early February and pupates itself. It then takes until mid-May for the caterpillar fly to appear. At this point in time, there are probably parasitic caterpillars, as the first swallowtail butterflies appear in early April.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Buquetia musca in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved August 19, 2020
- ↑ J. Kugler: A List of Parasites of Lepidoptera from Israel (PDF, 831 KB) Israel Journal of Entomology vol. I, 1966. 1966. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
Web links
- Tachinidae: Papilio machaon parasitized by Buquetia musca - Video at http://www.filming-varwild.com/
- Photo at diptera.info