''Zophomyia temula'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Tachinidae The Tachinidae are a large and variable family of true flies within the insect order Diptera, with more than 8,200 known species and many more to be discovered. Over 1,300 species have been described in North America alone. Insects in this family ...

Distribution

This rather common species has 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 distribution,Fauna Europaea
/ref> and includes

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

and South

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

. Farnaz Seyyedi SAHEBARI, Samad KHAGHANINIA and Joachim ZIEGLER
A contribution to the knowledge of the tachinid flies of the subfamily Tachininae (Diptera, Tachinidae) in northwestern Iran
/ref>

Habitat

These flies preferably inhabit meadows, woodland, hedge rows and moist environments and they can usually be found in the grass and on low-hanging leaves.

Description

''Zophomyia temula'' can reach a body length of approximately , James K. Lindse

/ref>Danmarks Fugle og Natur
with a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

of 15–17 mm. These fiies are shiny black on thorax and abdomen. Also legs and hairs are completely black, including the small setulae on the back of the head. This feature is quite unusual in the

. Moreovers the eyes are not so big and they are only sparsely haired. The body is quite slim and slightly elongated. The legs are relatively long and heavily hairy. The wings are mostly hyaline, but they are markedly yellow-orange at the base. This species is rather similar to '' Mesembrina meridiana'', belonging to the

Muscidae Muscidae are a family of flies found in the superfamily Muscoidea. Muscidae, some of which are commonly known as house flies or stable flies due to their synanthropy, are worldwide in distribution and contain almost 4,000 described species i ...

family, characterized by a larger size and by the typical round shape of the true fly.

Biology

Adults can be found from April to August, feeding on nectar and pollen of flowers, especially of ''

Heracleum sphondylium ''Heracleum sphondylium'', commonly known as hogweed, common hogweed or cow parsnip, is a herbaceous perennial or biennial plant, in the umbelliferous family Apiaceae that includes fennel, cow parsley, ground elder and giant hogweed. It is nat ...

''. Larvae are parasitoids, living literally into their hosts, until they die. The specific hosts are unknown.

References

External links

Tachinid Recording Scheme

Natura Mediterraneo
{{Taxonbar, from=Q8074273 Diptera of Europe Insects described in 1763 Tachininae Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli