Common snipe fly
| Common snipe fly | ||||||||||
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Common snipe fly ( Rhagio scolopaceus ) ♂ |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Rhagio scolopaceus | ||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1758 |
The common snipe fly ( Rhagio scolopaceus ) is a species from the family of snipe flies within the order of the two-winged (Diptera).
features
The species reaches a body length of 8 to 14 millimeters. The slender and long-legged flies have a short and strong proboscis that is used to eat. The face is gray with hairless eyes with white hair protruding from the back of the head. The chest (thorax) is gray with three dark gray longitudinal stripes on the back. The scutellum and the chitin plates on the sides, also on the abdomen, are gray with black short hairs on the mid-breast. The belly is reddish yellow, covered in the middle with triangular black spots, on the flanks with black side spots. The legs are yellow, the feet rather brownish. The wings are spotted brown.
Occurrence and habitat
The flight time is from May to September. The flies are particularly common in forests and on the edges of forests and often sit on tree trunks or dead wood with legs apart and front body raised. Usually the head points downwards. From this position they pounce on prey flying past, such as small flies. They mostly feed on small insects.
Larval development
The females usually lay their eggs one by one on the ground, manure or rotten wood. The cylindrical larvae have an incomplete head capsule and mouth hooks that are formed from the mandibles and maxillae . The body is equipped with weak creeping bulges. They live on and in the ground, between moss, leaf litter and manure, but also under bark. They mostly feed on small insects and earthworms . The snipe fly pupae live in the ground. The overwintering usually takes place as a larva.
literature
- J. Haupt, H. Haupt: Flies and mosquitoes - observation, way of life. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-278-4 .
- K. Honomichl, H. Bellmann: Biology and ecology of the insects. + CD-Rom. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart 1994.
