Dioctria rufipes

Dioctria rufipes, the common red-legged robberfly, is a species of robber fly in the subfamily Dasypogoninae of the family Asilidae.

Dioctria rufipes
Dioctria rufipes female, dorsal view
Side view
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Asilidae
Genus: Dioctria
Species:
D. rufipes
Binomial name
Dioctria rufipes
(De Geer, 1776)
Synonyms[1]

Distribution

This species can be found in most of Europe (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, the Netherlands, the former Yugoslavia, Germany, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary, Great Britain and Italy), in the Near East and in the East Palaearctic ecozone.[2]

Habitat

This species mainly inhabit scrubby grassland, well wooded areas, woodland edge and hedgerows.[3][4][5]

Description

Dioctria rufipes can reach a body length of about 8–15 mm (0.31–0.59 in) and a wings length of 7.5–9 mm (0.30–0.35 in).[5][6] These medium-large robber flies have a black head and hard piercing mouthparts.[4] The antennal tubercle is well-developed above the eyes. The mesothorax is black, lightly pubescent, with inconspicuous longitudinal stripes. The abdomen is slender, dorsally wider towards the back. The front legs are completely orange-red, whereas the hind legs are mainly black.[4] They show a complete stripe of pale, short and soft pubescence (tomentum) on the sides of the thorax (pleura), with an additional ventral stripe above middle coxa.[7][8]

Biology

Adults can be found from May to July-August.[4][6] These insects are predators on other insects. They mainly feed on parasitic wasps,[4] ichneumonids,[5] sawflies, empidid flies and a few small species (Phora, Oscinis, Opius species)[9]. The larvae develop as predators in the ground.[3]

  • Dioctria rufipes with prey

References
  1. Catalogue of life
  2. Fauna Europaea
  3. Steven Falk Dioctria rufipes (Orange-legged Robberfly)
  4. Nature Spot
  5. Gedling Conservation Trust
  6. J.K. Lindsey Ecology of Commanster
  7. Identification key to the Dioctria-species
  8. Fritz Geller-Grimm Provisional key to Central European species of the genus Dioctria Meigen
  9. B. M. Hobby - A Study of the Prey of Dioctria rufipes de G. (Diptera, Asilidae) in an Oxford Community - Journal of Animal Ecology - Vol. 1, No. 1 (May, 1932), pp. 77-82
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