Manx robber fly
| Manx robber fly | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Asilidae |
| Genus: | Machimus |
| Species: | M. cowini
|
| Binomial name | |
| Machimus cowini | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The Manx robber fly (Machimus cowini,
robber fly or Asilidae known throughout the world, and one of 28 asilids known to occur in the British Isles.[3]
Distribution and habitat
The Manx robber fly was first discovered on the
sand dunes on the east coast of Ireland.[4] There is only one authenticated record from the United Kingdom.[5] Speight also found the fly in Germany in 1987 and has identified flies from museum specimens collected from north Germany, the Netherlands, northern France and Hungary to be M. cowini, not M. cingulatus as formerly believed.[6]
It was first discovered in
gorse
which provide perching sites.
Speight noted flourishing colonies along the sandy coasts of the north-east Isle of Man in 1987.[7]
Taxonomy
The
entomologist who discovered the species, W. S. Cowin
. The scientific name of the species was once Epitriptus cowini; however, it was renamed Machimus cowini after being placed in the genus Machimus.
Conservation
The
Manx National Trust, through the creation of nature reserves, have saved the habitat
of the robber fly from total destruction.
Miscellaneous
In 1979 the Isle of Man Post Office issued a 13-pence stamp to celebrate 100 years of the Manx Natural History & Antiquarian Society. Painted by J. H. Nicholson, it depicts the Manx robber fly, and gives its former binomial name Epitriptus cowini. On 1 February 2001 the Isle of Man Post Office again issued a stamp depicting the Manx robber fly, in the series named 'Bugs and Bees', with the value of 58 pence.
References
- ^ B. M. Hobby (1946). "Epitriptus cowini, a new asilid (Dipt.) from the Isle of Man". Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 82: 88–91.
- ^ W. S. Cowin (1947). "A new asilid, Epitriptus cowini, a Manx insect new to science". Peregrine. 1 (4): 9–10. (a précis of the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine paper, and also an account of the discovery of specimens by the Manx naturalist the species was subsequently named after.)
- ISBN 1-899935-04-5.
- ^ Martin C. D. Speight (1987). "The Irish asilid (Diptera) fauna". Bulletin of the Irish Biogeographical Society. 10: 56–71.
- ^ Smart, Malcolm J.; Wright, Richard (2012). "A first record of Machimus cowini (Hobby) (Diptera, Asilidae) on the British mainland". Dipterists Digest. Second Series. 19 (2). Dipterists Forum: 151–154.
- Entomofauna. 8 (20): 289–291.
- JSTOR 25539175.