Microdon mutabilis

Microdon mutabilis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Syrphidae
Genus: Microdon
Species:
M. mutabilis
Binomial name
Microdon mutabilis
Synonyms
  • Microdon apiformis(De Geer, 1776)
  • Musca apiformisDe Geer, 1776
  • Musca mutabilisLinnaeus, 1758

Microdon mutabilis, is a species of hoverfly. It is found in many parts of Britain and Europe. The distinctive almost slug-like larvae live in ants' nests.[1] They are hemispherical in shape, heavily armoured and believed to prey on the eggs and larvae of a number of ant species, including Formica lemani, Formica fusca, Lasius niger and Myrmica ruginodis.[2] It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.[3]

  1. ^ Donisthorpe, H. St. J. (1927). The guests of British ants : their habits and life-histories. London: Routledge. p. 244.
  2. ^ Stubbs, Alan E. & Falk, Steven J. (1983). British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide. British Entomological & Natural History Society. pp. 253, xvpp.
  3. ^ "Microdon mutabilis (Linnaeus, 1758)". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 11 December 2018.