Corresponding author: Pierfilippo Cerretti (
Academic editor: Rudolf Meier
The European bone-skippers (
It is undeniable that some organisms are able to provoke great curiosity, which may last through generations of students. There are several, often interrelated reasons for this: rarity for example, true or apparent, but also a certain aesthetic appeal or unusual biology. All of these factors have contributed to the long-term popularity of thyreophorine
The present work was triggered by the finding of several specimens of a species of
Male terminalia, pinned specimens and larvae were examined, uncoated, with a Hitachi TM1000 environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). Male terminalia were also slide mounted. Line drawings were made using a drawing tube.
Male terminalia were dissected following the method described by
The material examined is deposited in the following collections (acronyms as used in the text):
Label data of type specimens are given verbatim using the following symbols:
/ end of a line and beginning of the next;
// end of a label and beginning of the next (from top to bottom on the same pin).
Morphological terminology essentially follows
Brownish, scathophagid-like flies, body length 4−8 mm. Body densely to moderately microtomentose and covered with long, fine setulae, especially in males. Frons with one or two upper reclinate orbital setae. Ocellar seta, medial and lateral vertical setae, and postvertical seta long and robust. Two to ten frontal setae usually arranged more or less regularly around lunula. Face with a strong, flattened median carina, antennal grooves deep. Parafacial with a patch of microtomentum at mid length (
Wing membrane hyaline. Costa more or less spinose (i.e., with a regular row of stronger setulae interspersed with the general costal setulae), spine-like setae stronger in male than in female. Anal vein fading out well before wing margin. Legs thickly setulose in both sexes (almost woolly in male). Fore femur with 5–6 weak posteroventral setae near apex, scarcely differentiated in male. Hind femur with 2–3 anteroventral setae near apex. Mid tibia with five apical setae on ventral side: middle and lateral ones strongest. Hind tibia with one short, curved apical seta on posteroventral surface. Tarsi unmodified.
Described by
Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Russian Far East, northern India (Kashmir and Darjeeling).
The generic diagnosis incorporates the characters given by
Males of
Male terminalia of
Female of
Third instar of
Third instar and puparium of
Neotype (designated below). Male (ZMUC), here designated, from Sardinia, Italy and bearing the following labels: SARDEGNA / Belvì (NU) / 10.X.’84 [39°57.889'N, 9°11.111'E] // Neotype ♂ /
Specimens from Sardinia were collected from a bag of dead, decaying snails (
?France (Paris), Italy (Sardinia, Central Apennines).
Both the larva and puparium of
On April 5th (n=15) and May 3rd (n=7), 2006, several mature larvae were collected from the soil a few centimetres below the sheep quarters used as bait for the pitfall traps set in the “vulture restaurant” (see above under “Remarks”). The larvae were then transferred into two petri dishes (12 cm diameter): one filled with potting soil, the other with natural soil collected with the larvae from under the carcass. Moisture was provided each week until midsummer. All larvae remained active, though only slightly so, during this time. By June 1st, five out of 22 larvae had died. The loss of larvae continued steadily and by the beginning of September only six larvae were left, three in the potting soil and three in the natural soil. In early October 2006, two puparia were found in each dish and all the remaining larvae were dead. The four puparia and small amounts of soil were isolated in smaller dishes. An adult male emerged in November from one of the puparia in the natural soil, and another adult (possibly a male) was found dead in its puparium in the potting soil. The remaining two puparia failed to produce adults.
Our observations are consistent with those of
1 ♀, 1 ♂, Israel, Tel Aviv, 17.XII.1977, A. Freiberg legit (MZUR); several males and females, same data (TAU). 16 ♂♂, 9 ♀♀, Italy, Latium, Monti della Tolfa, Mount S. Ansino, 332 m,
Europe: Austria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom; North Africa: Algeria; Middle East: Turkey, Israel.
1 ♂,1 ♀, each bearing the following labels: [Russia] Aмурская обл[аст] / Г. ЗеЯ [= Amur region, Zeya.] 1.VIII.1981 / A. Ozerov / PARATYPE (ZMUC).
Russian Far East.
Holotype male, bearing the following labels: [INDIA] Darjeeling / Juni / Frusthofer leg. //
INDIA (Kashmir) Gulmarg, 2600–3000 m, 17.VIII 5.IX.1978: 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ (ZMUC).
Northern India (Darjeeling, Kashmir).
1 | Scutum mostly shiny black with two large, longitudinal, silver stripes of microtomentum aligned with, and along the entire length of, dorsocentral setae ( |
|
– | Scutum usually more extensively covered with microtomentum, and not showing the pattern described above ( |
2 |
2 | Gena 0.68–0.95 times as high as eye in lateral view ( |
|
– | Gena 0.33–0.65 times as high as eye in lateral view ( |
3 |
3 | Genal dilation and occiput entirely covered with microtometum ( |
|
– | Genal dilation entirely smooth, occiput largely without microtomentum laterally ( |
Our study shows that specimens of
Furthermore, considering the confused taxonomic and nomenclatural situation described above, created by
Considering that:
i)
ii) The name
iii)
iv) Robineau-Desvoidy’s original description of
v) The
vi) The specimens from Sardinia were already referred to under the name
we select as neotype a male specimen from Sardinia chosen among those studied by
The thyreophorine genus
For these reasons, we consider the monotypic genus
The European thyreophorine species have always been considered very rare insects and have famously also been considered as locally or even globally extinct (
It would seem that these flies may also be relatively abundant in sites where they are present (
It would also be interesting to assess the role of food sources other than large mammal carcasses in maintaining natural populations of these flies. Other studies have shown that thyreophorine species have also been collected from a bag of dead decaying snails (
We hope that the interest generated by the recent rediscovery of these flies will result in further studies on their reproductive biology and ethology, as combining the results of such studies with the already available morphological data may help explain the great polymorphism observed in adult males.
Most sincere thanks are due to J.E. O’Hara (Canadian National Collection of Insects, Ottawa, Canada) and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript, to A. Minelli (Padova University, Italy), T. Pape and V. Michelsen (ZMUC) for their very useful and appreciated advice during the course of this study. Many thanks also to T. Pape (ZMUC), P. Sehnal (NHMW), A. Freidberg (TAU) and L. Rivosecchi (Rome, Italy), who allowed us to study the material under their care; to Tiziana Altea, Luciano Sammarone, Mario Posillico, Rosario Bartolo and Vincenzo Cofini (Riserva Nazionale Orientata Monte Velino, Abruzzo, Italy) who facilitated access and field work in the Reserve; to M. Mini (Rome, Italy) for help collecting the material; to Angela Cerasoli (Vienna) for assistance in examining the holotype of
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