Neoitamus cyanurus

Neoitamus cyanurus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Asilidae
Genus: Neoitamus
Species: N. cyanurus
Binomial name
Neoitamus cyanurus
(Loew, 1849)

Neoitamus cyanurus is a species of 'stiletto flies' belonging to the family Asilidae. It is a Palearctic species with a limited distribution in Europe [1]

Description

"A rather large dark elongate species.Bristles of the legs nearly all black ; tarsi with only the extreme base orange. Abdomen of the male shining steel-blue on the sixth and seventh segments, while in the female those segments appear to form a part of the ovipositor. Male claspers elongate oblong".[2][3]

Biology

It is an ancient woodland species (especially oak).The adult animals perch on tree trunks, or branches waiting for flying insects, which they then capture with their long bristly legs. The prey are often larger than the captor. The prey spectrum is broad including, for example, flies, gnats, cicadas, beetles and many more.The larvae develop in the soil and there feed on insect larvae.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Fauna Europaea
  2. ↑ Verrall, G. H., 1909 Stratiomyidae and succeeding families of the Diptera Brachycera of Great Britain British flies Volume 5 London : Gurney and Jackson, 1909.BHL Full text with illustrations
  3. ↑ Harold Oldroyd, 1969 Diptera, Brachycera : section (a) : Tabanoidea and Asiloidea Handbooks for the identification of British insects, v. 9, pt. 4 Royal Entomological Society of London pdf
  4. ↑ Hobby, B.M., 1930 The British species of Asilidae (Diptera) and their prey. Trans. Entomol. Soc. of South England. No. 6. pp. 1-42.
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