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''Gauromydas heros'' is a species of giant fly belonging to the family Mydidae. It is the largest species of the entire order of Diptera or true flies.
Review of the ''Gauromydas'' giant flies (Insecta, Diptera, Mydidae), with descriptions of two new species from Central and South America
Magnolia Press, New Zealand doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4048.3.3
Distribution
This species has aNeotropical
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In bioge ...
distribution (Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
, Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to t ...
).
Description
''Gauromydas heros'' can reach a length of and awingspan
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 o ...
of about . It is the largest fly known. The wing membrane is whitish, brown or orange, with a hyaline apex and a posterior margin.Calhau Julia, Lamas Carlos José Einicker, Nihei Silvio ShigueReview of the ''Gauromydas'' giant flies (Insecta, Diptera, Mydidae), with descriptions of two new species from Central and South America
Magnolia Press, New Zealand doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4048.3.3
Biology
Adult males are flower visitors, while females do not feed at all. Larvae live in the nest of ants ( Atta species), feeding on immature insects. Mature larva dig a pupation chamber in the soil. Then theimago
In biology, the imago (Latin for "image") is the last stage an insect attains during its metamorphosis, its process of growth and development; it is also called the imaginal stage, the stage in which the insect attains maturity. It follows the ...
emerges.
See also
*List of largest insects
Insects, which are a type of arthropod, are the most numerous group of multicellular organisms on the planet, with over a million species identified so far. The title of heaviest insect in the world has many contenders, the most frequently crown ...
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q13640390 Insects described in 1833 Taxa named by Maximilian Perty