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| Insects of Britain and Ireland: the families of Diptera |
Soldier-flies.
Adult insects. Very small to large (3–20 mm long). Antennae 3 segmented (the third segment annulated); ‘modified’; having the terminal segment annulated. Ocelli present; 3. Lower orbital bristles absent. Post-vertical orbital bristles absent. Mouthparts non-piercing (the proboscis short and fleshy). The maxillary palps 1 segmented, or 2 segmented; porrect. Vibrissae absent. Wings with a discal cell (small), or without a discal cell; without a sub-apical cell; with a closed anal cell. The anal cell relatively long, or short. The costa not extending around the entire wing. Sub-costa apparent; reaching the costa independently of vein 1, or joining vein 1 more or less where it joins the costa. The leading edge veins markedly stronger than the rest (often), or not noticeably stronger than the rest. Wing vein 6 present; reaching the wing margin. Wing vein 7 present; falling short of the wing margin. Tibiae without spurs. Feet with a triple pad beneath the tarsal claws.
Larvae and pupae. The larvae aquatic (breathing via an extensible tail segment), or terrestrial; saprophagous (on animal and plant remains), or mycophagous, or predatory (?); hemicephalic. The pupae without a puparium (but enclosed in the last, unmodified larval skin).
Comments. Sluggish, small to fairly large, flattened flies without bristles, usually with white, yellow or green markings, often metallic; including some wasp mimics. Resting with wings placed one above the other over the abdomen.
Classification. Suborder Brachycera; Division Tabanomorpha; Superfamily Stratiomyoidea.
British representation. 48 species in Britain. Genera 16; Beris, Chloromyia, Chorisops, Clitellaria, Eupachygaster, Microchrysa, Nemotellus, Neopachygaster, Oxycera, Odontomyia, Oplodontha, Pachygaster, Sargus, Stratiomys, Vanoyia, Zabrachia.
Illustrations. • Beris, Chrysomyia, Clitellaria, Chlorisops, Nemotelus, Pachygaster, Stratiomys (from Walker). 1, Beris chalybeata: 1a, antenna, 1b, extremity of tarsus, 1c, 8-spined scutellum. 2, Chlorisops tibialis: 2a, antenna,with terminal joint seemingly of three coalesced segments; 2b, 4-spined scutellum. 3, Stratiomys chamaeleon (female): 3a, head of male; 3b, proboscis with palp; 3c, labrum with bifid tipped lingua; 3d, 10-jointed antenna. 4, Nemotelus rara: 4a, side view of head; 4b, antenna. 5, Clitellaria ephippium: 5a, 10-jointed antenna. 6, Nemotelus uliginosus: 6a, side view of head; 6b, antenna. 7, Pachygaster atra: 7a, antenna. From Walker (1851), Plate I. • Microchrysa and Sargus: Walker. 8, Microchrysa polita: 8a, head of male from above; 8b, antenna. 9, Sargus cuprarius (male): 9a, head of female from above; 9b, ditto from the side; 9c, proboscis, with palp detached; 9d, 8-jointed antenna. From Walker (1851, Plate I). • Beris geniculata (Pale-kneed Beris: B. Ent. 337). • Beris geniculata (detail: B. Ent. 337). • Beris geniculata (dissections: B. Ent. 337). • Beris geniculata: B. Ent. 337, legend+text. • Beris geniculata: B. Ent. 337, text cont.. • Sargus bipunctatus (Reaumur's Fly: B. Ent. 305). • Sargus bipunctatus (detail: B. Ent. 305). • Sargus bipunctatus (dissections: B. Ent. 305). • Sargus bipunctatus: (B. Ent. 305, legend+text. • Sargus bipunctatus: (B. Ent. 305, text cont.. • Oxycera morrisii Curtis (Lyme Regis Oxycera: B. Ent. 441). • Oxycera morrisii (B. Ent. 441, legend+text). The original descriptions of Oxycera Curtis, and of the species O. morisii. Note that Curtis himself offers alternative authorities for the genus, and (see also the next page) credits Dale with at least joint authorship of the species. • Oxycera morrisii (B. Ent. 441, text cont.). • Pachygaster leachii Curtis (Leachian Pachygaster: B. Ent. 042). • Pachygaster leachii (B. Ent. 042, legend+text). The original description of P. leachii Curtis, the name attributed by Curtis himself to Stephens. • Pachygaster leachii (B. Ent. 042, text cont.). • Nemotelus nigrinus: B. Ent. 729. • Nemotelus nigrinus: B. Ent. 729, legend+text. • Nemotelus nigrinus: B. Ent. 729, text cont.. • Clitellaria ephippium, Chorisops tibialis: Stephens 1846. STRATIOMYIDAE. 1, Clitellaria ephippium; 2, Chorisops tibialis (as Actina tibialis). From Stephens, 1846.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. Insects of Britain and Ireland: the families of Diptera. Version: 14th April 2022. delta-intkey.com’.
