Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

Microdontinae

Subfamily of flies From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Microdontinae
Remove ads

The subfamily Microdontinae contains slightly more than 400 species of hoverflies (family Syrphidae) and, while diverse, these species share several characteristics by which they differ from other syrphids. The Microdontinae are myrmecophiles, meaning they live in the nests of ants. Larval Microdontinae are scavengers or predators in ant nests,[1] and, in contrast to other syrphid larvae, have no readily apparent body segmentation. Some species also do not exhibit the typical adult flower-visiting behaviour of other hoverflies, but instead remain near their larval host colonies (some of these species have no functional mouthparts and cannot feed as adults).[2]

Quick Facts Scientific classification ...
Remove ads

A number of genera (e.g. Masarygus, Paragodon, Schizoceratomyia and Surimyia) lack the "spurious vein" which is characteristic of all other Syrphidae.[3] For other distinguishing characteristics, see Thompson (1969).[4]

Remove ads

Genera

Summarize
Perspective

A revised list of the genera in Microdontinae was carried out by Reemer & Ståhls (2013):[5]

Remove ads

References

Loading content...

Further reading

Loading content...
Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads