Thyreophora cynophila

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Thyreophora cynophila
Thyreophora cynophila (Plate by Jacob Sturm)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Diptera
Family:
Piophilidae
Subfamily:
Thyreophorinae
Tribe:
Thyreophorini
Genus:
Thyreophora

Meigen, 1803
Species:
T. cynophila
Binomial name
Thyreophora cynophila
(Panzer, 1798)
Synonyms
  • Musca cynophila Panzer, 1798

Thyreophora cynophila, commonly known as the bone skipper[1] is a species of fly native to Europe. It was once thought to be the first fly to be driven to extinction by humans, but rediscovered in 2009.[1] It has a bright orange head, and is associated with animal carcasses where the bones are broken open.

Meigen's figure (7 male, female, dissection) of Thyreophora cynophila in Europäischen Zweiflügeligen

Description

Thyreophora cynophila was originally described by

scutellum in the male.[2] (The name Thyreophora is also used for a dinosaur suborder.)[2] Later reports extended the species' geographical range to include France and Austria, and some reported that the fly had a luminous head.[2]

Extinction

The species was not recorded in the wild after 1850, and was long considered to be extinct.

predatory megafauna; in either case, the scarcity of large carcasses with partly crushed bones, which would allow the insects to reach the medullary cavity and the bone marrow, denied the fly its likely breeding habitat.[4]

Rediscovery

In late 2009, an amateur photographer took a photograph of a fly that he did not recognise in the

Iberian Mountains in La Rioja located between 900 and 1,400 m.a.s.l. covering an area of approximately 76,500 hectares.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c Rowan Hooper (September 22, 2010). "Zoologger: Horror fly returns from the dead". New Scientist.
  2. ^
    doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.2010.00541.x
    .
  3. ^ Matt Walker (September 17, 2010). "'Mythical' extinct fly rediscovered after 160 years". BBC News. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
  4. ^
    PDF
    )    . Boletín de la Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa (S.E.A.). 46: 1–7.
  5. PDF
    )    . Boletín de la Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa (S.E.A.). 48: 403–405.
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