''Chaetocoelopa littoralis'', commonly known as the hairy kelp fly, is a

fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

of the family

Coelopidae The Coelopidae or kelp flies are a family of Acalyptratae flies (order Diptera), they are sometimes also called seaweed flies, though both terms are used for a number of seashore Diptera. Fewer than 40 species occur worldwide. The family is fou ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and is widely distributed around the coastline, including offshore islands. These flies are black in appearance and show large variation in size, with males tending to be larger and more robust and 'hairy' than females.

Description

''C. littoralis'' is a small fly with long hairy legs, and a body length of approximately 7 mm. The fly is able to walk on the surface of water, and can survive and recover from inundation by waves. Hutton originally described this species as follows:

Taxonomy

This specie was first described by F. W. Hutton in 1881 and named ''Coelopa littoralis''. In 1901 Hutton, thinking he was describing a new species, again named this species ''Coelopa monstruosa''. In 1933 John R. Malloch placed this species within the genus ''Chaetocoelopa''. The male

lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

specimen is held at the Canterbury Museum.

Distribution

''C. littoralis'' is endemic to New Zealand and is found throughout New Zealand's coast, including offshore islands. A study of coastal ''Diptera'' species at 109 locations distributed around the New Zealand coastline found ''C. littoralis'' at 41% of the sites.

Habitat and hosts

Like other species in the family Coelopidae, ''C. littoralis'' inhabit beds of decaying seaweed and kelp ( wrack) washed up on the coast, and can form large aggregations. The larvae of ''C. littoralis'' play an important role in assisting decomposition of rotting seaweed on the shoreline. ''C. littoralis'' is found in beds of decaying seaweed and kelp ( wrack) washed up on the coast, and can also be observed resting on surfaces including cliff faces and driftwood in large aggregations. The adults and larvae of ''C. littoralis'' are a significant food source for shore birds such as the

New Zealand dotterel The New Zealand dotterel (''Charadrius obscurus'') is a species of shorebird found only in certain areas of New Zealand. It is also called the New Zealand plover or red-breasted dotterel, and its Māori names include , , and . The southern s ...

(''Charadrius obscurus'') and the

New Zealand pipit The New Zealand pipit (''Anthus novaeseelandiae'') is a fairly small passerine bird of open country in New Zealand and outlying islands. It belongs to the pipit genus ''Anthus'' in the family Motacillidae. It was formerly lumped together with th ...

(''Anthus novaeseelandiae'').

Life cycle

Studies of the mating behaviour of ''C. littoralis'' have shown that in common with other Coelopids, larger males have greater mating success, because they are more able to overcome the common resistance behaviours of the female. Adult flies mate within the wrack beds, and females lay their eggs onto the wrack. Their larvae feed on the decaying algae and its associated

microorganism A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

s, and go through three developmental stages (or

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...

) before

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

ting on sand further up the beach.

Gallery

> File:Chaetocoelopa littoralis 1218266.jpg, File:Chaetocoelopa littoralis 191250018.jpg, File:Chaetocoelopa littoralis 20598973.jpg, File:Kelp fly 2, own work, 17 April 2015.jpg, File:Chaetocoelopa littoralis 32937642.jpg, File:Hairy kelp fly (Chaetocoelopa littoralis).jpg,

References

External links

* ''Chaetocoelopa littoralis'' discussed on

RNZ Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and cu ...

Critter of the Week ''Critter of the Week'' is a weekly RNZ National programme about endangered and neglected native plants and animals of New Zealand. Beginning in 2015, ''Critter of the Week'' is an approximately 15-minute discussion between Nicola Toki of the ...

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1 July 2022
{{Taxonbar, from=Q14567448 Coelopidae Diptera of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Insects described in 1881 Taxa named by Frederick Hutton Endemic insects of New Zealand