Microdon mutabilis explained

Microdon mutabilis, is a species of hoverfly. It is found in many parts of Britain and Europe. The distinctive almost slug-like larvae live in ants' nests.^[1] They are hemispherical in shape, heavily armoured and believed to prey on the eggs and larvae of a number of ant species, including Formica lemani, Formica fusca, Lasius niger and Myrmica ruginodis.^[2] It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.^[3]

Description

Wing length 6–9 mm. Pterostigma 2-2.5 times as long as the length of the wing margin between ends of wing veins R1 and R2+3. Scutellum red or dark red. The male genitalia are figured by Doczkal and Schmid (1999).^[4] Note M. mutabilis is only reliably distinguished from M. myrmicae by features of the puparium.See references for determination.^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]}

External links

• Web site: Taxonomy Browser: Microdon mutabilis . Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD) . July 12, 2020. With images.

Notes and References

1. Book: Donisthorpe, H. St. J. . 1927 . The guests of British ants : their habits and life-histories . London . Routledge . 244 .
2. Book: Stubbs, Alan E. . Falk, Steven J. . amp . 1983 . British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide. 253, xvpp . British Entomological & Natural History Society.
3. Web site: Microdon mutabilis (Linnaeus, 1758) . Global Biodiversity Information Facility . 11 December 2018.
4. Doczkal, D. & Schmid, U. (1999). "Revision der mitteleuropäischen Arten der Gattung Microdon Meigen (Diptera, Syrphidae)". Volucella. 4: 45-68.
5. Van Veen, M. (2004) Hoverflies of Northwest Europe: Identification Keys to the Syrphidae. 256pp. KNNV Publishing, Utrecht.addendum
6. Van der Goot, V. S. (1981). De zweefvliegen van Noordwest - Europa en Europees Rusland, in het bijzonder van de Benelux. KNNV, Uitgave no.32: 275pp. Amsterdam.
7. Bei-Bienko, G. Y. & Steyskal, G. C. (1988). Keys to the Insects of the European Part of the USSR, Volume V: Diptera and Siphonaptera, Part I. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi.
8. Coe, R. L. (1953). "Diptera: Syrphidae". Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects. 10 (1): 1-98. Royal Entomological Society.
9. Speight . M. C. D. . 2011 . Species accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera). Syrph the Net, the Database of European Syrphidae . 65 . 285pp .