Dexia rustica

Dexia rustica
Dexia rustica. Dorsal view
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Tachinidae
Subfamily:	Dexiinae
Tribe:	Dexiini
Genus:	Dexia
Species:	D. rustica
Binomial name
Dexia rustica (Fabricius, 1775)[1]
Synonyms
Dexia flavicornis Meigen, 1826[2] Dexia grisea Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830[3] Dexia testacea Macquart, 1834[4] Dinera fulvipes Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830[3] Ida petiolata Robineau-Desvoidy, 1863[5] Musca germanica Gmelin, 1790[6] Musca longipes Stephens, 1829[7] Musca plebeja Fabricius, 1781[8] Musca provenio Harris, 1780[9] Musca rustica Fabricius, 1775[1]

Dexia rustica is a species of fly in the family Tachinidae.[10]

Distribution and habitat

British Isles, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Iran, Israel, Mongolia, Russia, Transcaucasia.[10]

These tachinids usually inhabit hedge rows and flowery environments.[11]

Description

Side view

Dexia rustica can reach a body length of 8.4–12.7 millimetres (0.33–0.50 in) and a wingspan of 16–24 mm.[12] These small tachinids have generally a black thorax, with grayish yellow pruinosity. Four longitudinal black vittae appear on dorsum,[13] Abdomen appears greyish-brown or reddish, with a darker longitudinal dorsal marking, more or less evident. It is cylindric-conic, with two setae among each segment. Probocis is short and membranous.[14] Females usually are darker than males.[15][11] Wings are hyaline, with a reddish yellow tegula and a dark brown basicosta. Legs are reddish yellow.[13]

Biology

Adults can be found from June to August,[11][12] feeding on nectar and pollen, especially of Heracleum sphondylium.[12]

Larvae develop in the soil feeding on beetle larvae (endoparasitism),[11] mainly of Melolontha melolontha,[12] Amphimallon solstitialis, Rhizotrogus marginipes[13] and Phyllopertha horticola (Scarabaeidae).[16]

References

1. Fabricius, J.C. (1775). Systema entomologiae, sistens insectorum classes, ordines, genera, species, adiectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibus, observationibus. Flensbvrgi et Lipsiae [= Flensburg & Leipzig]: Kortii. pp. [32] + 832. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
2. Meigen, J.W. (1826). Systematische Beschreibung der bekannten europäischen zweiflügeligen Insekten. Funfter Theil. Hamm: Schulz-Wundermann. pp. xii + 412 pp. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
3. Robineau-Desvoidy, J.B. (1830). "Essai sur les myodaires". Mémoires présentés par divers savans à l'Académie Royale des Sciences de l'Institut de France (Sciences Mathématiques et Physiques). 2 (2): 1–813. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
4. Macquart, J (1834). "Insectes Diptères du Nord de la France. Tome V. Athericères: Créophiles, Œstrides, Myopaires, Conopsaires, Scénopiniens, Céphalopsides. Daniel L, Lille, 232 pp". Mémoires de la Société Royale des Sciences, de l'Agriculture et des Arts, de Lille. 1833: 137–368.
5. Robineau-Desvoidy, Jean-Baptiste (1863). Histoire naturelle des dipteres des environs de Paris (PDF). Vol. Tome second. Masson et Fils, Paris. pp. 1–920. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
6. Gmelin, J.F. (1790). Caroli a Linne, Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species; cum caracteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima tertia, aucta, reformata [= Ed. 13.] Vol. 1: Regnum Animale. Lipsiae [= Leipzig]: G.E. Beer. pp. Pt 5, Pp. 2225–3020. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
7. Stephens, J.F. (1829). A systematic catalogue of British insects ... Part II. Insecta Haustellata. London: Baldwin & Cradock. pp. 388 pp.
8. Fabricius, J.C. (1781). Species insectorum. Vol. 2. Hamburgi et Kilonii [= Hamburg and Kiel]: C. E. Bohnii. p. 494.
9. Harris, M. (1780). An exposition of English insects. Vol. Decads III, IV. London: Robson Co. pp. 73–99, 100–138, pls. 21–30, 31–40. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
10. O’Hara, James E.; Henderson, Shannon J.; Wood, D. Monty (5 March 2020). "Preliminary Checklist of the Tachinidae (Diptera) of the World" (PDF). Tachinidae Resources. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
11. Bob Gibbons Field Guide to Insects of Britain and Northern Europe
12. J.K. Lindsey Commanster
13. Chun-Tian Zhang, Xiao-Lin Chen A review of the genus Dexia Meigen in the Palearctic and Oriental Regions Diptera Tachinidae in Zootaxa · December 2010
14. John Obadiah Westwood An Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects Vol II (1840)
15. James E. O'Hara, Hiroshi Shima, & Chuntian Zhang. "Annotated Catalogue of the Tachinidae (Insecta: Diptera) of China." Zootaxa 2190 (2009): 1-236.
16. Encyclopedia of life