Eulonchus
Eulonchus sapphirinus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Acroceridae
Subfamily: Panopinae
Genus: Eulonchus
Gerstaecker, 1856[1]
Type species
Eulonchus smaragdinus

Eulonchus is a genus of small-headed flies in the family Acroceridae. There are six described species in Eulonchus. The genus is found in North America. Adults have a metallic blue, green or sometimes purple coloration, giving them a jewel-like appearance. A common name for flies in the genus is the North American jewelled spider flies.[2] Adults are also known as "sapphires" or "emeralds".[3]

Species

These six species belong to the genus Eulonchus:[2]

Distribution

Most species of Eulonchus are distributed west of the Rocky Mountains in the United States, northwards to Canada and southwards to Baja California, Mexico. The exception is Eulonchus marialiciae, which is known only from a small area in the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina, though future studies are needed to confirm the species' true range.[2]

Hosts

Flies in the genus attack spiders in the families Euctenizidae and Antrodiaetidae.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gerstaecker, A. (1856). "Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Henopier" (PDF). Entomologische Zeitung Stettin. 17: 339–361. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Borkent, C.J.; Gillung, J.P.; Winterton, S.L. (2016). "Jewelled spider flies of North America: a revision and phylogeny of Eulonchus Gerstaecker (Diptera, Acroceridae)". ZooKeys (619): 103–146. doi:10.3897/zookeys.619.8249. PMC 5090163. PMID 27829790.
  3. ↑ "Flying jewels spell death for tarantulas: Study of a North American spider fly genus". ScienceDaily. Pensoft Publishers. 5 October 2016.
  4. 1 2 Schlinger, E. I. (1960). "A Review of the Genus Eulonchus Gerstaecker. Part I. The Species of the Smaragdinus Group (Diptera: Acroceridae)". Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 53 (3): 416–422. doi:10.1093/aesa/53.3.416.
  5. 1 2 Osten-Sacken, Carl Robert (1877). Western Diptera : descriptions of new genera and species of Diptera from the region west of the Mississippi and especially from California. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. p. 354.
  6. ↑ Brimley, C.S. (1925). "New species of Diptera from North Carolina". Entomological News. 36: 73–77.
  7. ↑ Loew, Hermann (1872). "Diptera Americae septentrionalis indigena. Centuria decima". Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift. 16: 49–124. doi:10.1002/mmnd.18720160110. Retrieved 25 July 2021.

Further reading

  • McAlpine, J. F.; Petersen, B. V.; Shewell, G. E.; Teskey, H. J.; Vockeroth, J. R.; Wood, D. M., eds. (1981). Manual of Nearctic Diptera, Volume I. Agriculture Canada, Research Branch. ISBN 978-0-660-10731-8.
  • Media related to Eulonchus at Wikimedia Commons


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