Coelopa pilipes

Coelopa pilipes
Adult
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Coelopidae
Subfamily: Coelopinae
Tribe: Coelopini
Genus: Coelopa
Species:
C. pilipes
Binomial name
Coelopa pilipes
Haliday, 1838
Map of the native distribution of C. pilipes in Europe
Synonyms[1]
  • Coelopa brevipilosa Mercier, 1921
  • Coelopa marina Walker, 1849

Coelopa pilipes (common name kelp fly or seaweed fly) is a common European species of kelp fly.[1] It was described by A. H. Haliday in 1838.[2] Their appearance differs greatly from that of other Coelopa flies.

C. pilipes are especially prevalent in European beaches. Year-round, these flies live in washed-up kelp on wrack zones of beaches before adulthood and consume the decaying kelp, mostly of the genera Laminaria and Fucus that have a great impact on the flies' survival. Female flies lay eggs in the decaying seaweed, and larvae mature in the warm, moist environment it provides. C. pilipes has significant sympatry with C. frigida; the two flies are often studied together due to their overlapping habitats and distribution.[3]

  1. ^ a b "Catalogue of Life - 2011 Annual Checklist :: Species details". www.catalogueoflife.org. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  2. ^ Haliday, A. H. (1838-10-01). "XV.—New British insects indicated in Mr. Curtis's guide". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 2 (8): 112–121. doi:10.1080/00222933809512345. ISSN 0374-5481.
  3. ^ Edward, Dominic A.; Gilburn, Andre S. (2007-08-01). "The effect of habitat composition on sexual conflict in the seaweed flies Coelopa frigida and C. pilipes". Animal Behaviour. 74 (2): 343–348. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.07.023. hdl:1893/927. ISSN 0003-3472. S2CID 53154987.