''Oplodontha viridula'', the common green colonel, is a

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an species of

soldier fly The soldier flies (Stratiomyidae, sometimes misspelled as Stratiomyiidae, from Greek - soldier; - fly) are a family of flies (historically placed in the now-obsolete group Orthorrhapha). The family contains over 2,700 species in over 380 extan ...

Description

Body length 6–8 mm. Purple eyes in life with bands and spots. Thorax brilliant black, coarsely punctured and with short dull yellow pubescence. Scutellum entirely black with two yellow spines. Yellowish legs (female). Abdomen whitish, yellow or leaf green with all intermediate ranges; black longitudinal dorsal median band also variable in shape and extent than the background pastel color. The larva is light or dark brownish with different longitudinal stripes or markings: on the dorsal side it has short, depressed hairs, on the ventral side the middle space of the segments have somewhat longish hairs. The length is 16 mm.

William Lundbeck William Lundbeck (16 October 1863 in Aalborg – 18 May 1941 in Kongens Lyngby) was a Danish entomologist mainly interested in Diptera. He was a Professor in the University Museum in Copenhagen. Lundbeck's most important work was ''Diptera Dan ...

''Diptera Danica. Genera and species of flies Hitherto found in Denmark''. Copenhagen & London, 1902-1927. 7 vols File:Grüne Waffenfliege 20120707 02.jpg , flower feeding File:Oplodontha viridula, Harlech, North Wales, June 2011 (17298774540).jpg, dorsal view File:Oplodontha viridula (1).jpg, head File:Oplodontha viridula - 2013-08-22.webm , larva in a pool

Biology

The habitat is wetland biotope, such as marshes, meadows with locks, salt marshes and river valleys- in humid places, on herbs, ''

Phragmites ''Phragmites'' () is a genus of four species of large perennial reed grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Taxonomy The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, maintained by Kew Garden in London ...

'', ''

Cnicus ''Cnicus benedictus'', known by the common names St. Benedict's thistle, blessed thistle, holy thistle and spotted thistle, is a thistle-like plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, from Portugal north to southern F ...

'' Adults are found from the end of April to the beginning of October. Adults feed on pollen and nectar of ''

Achillea millefolium ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

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Distribution

Throughout the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

References

Stratiomyidae Diptera of Europe Insects described in 1775 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius Articles containing video clips {{Stratiomyidae-stub