Day24: Our last UK #Drosophila #Advent entry is Cacoxenus indagator! Also in the #Steganinae, this handsome fly lays its eggs in the nests of the solitary Osmia mason bees, where they develop as (klepto)parasites https://www.wildbienen.de/wbi-p831.htm . A couple of larvae don’t kill the bee, but it can’t survive with several http://dx.doi.org/10.21521/mw.5559 http://dx.doi.org/10.21521/mw.5559 . The challenge of escaping the sealed brood cell is huge, and they are affectionately known as Houdini flies https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-3032.2010.00764.x

#Drosophila #Advent Day23: Another fungus feeder in the #Steganinae with Leucophenga hungarica! This strikingly bright yellow drosophilid has a mysterious history: It was first recorded in the UK in only 2016 https://dipterists.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf/Dipterists%20Digest%202011%20Vol%2018%20No%201.pdf , but was initially described only in 2000 – having been collected in central Europe very infrequently since 1974 http://www.drosophila.jp/jdd/class/070401/07040123.pdf . Where was this big yellow fly until then, and why is it spreading now? #Diptera #Fungus #Entomology

Leucophenga maculata in situ on an oyster mushroom (I once found 12 females on a single fungus!).

#Leucophenga #Steganinae #Drosophila #Diptera #Insect #Entomology #Macro #MacroPhotography

#Drosophila #Advent Day22: One of my favourite flies, #Leucophenga maculata is our first fly in the subfamily #Steganinae! It is a big Eurasian http://www.drosophila.jp/jdd/class/030705/03070585E.pdf fungus feeder https://www.jstor.org/stable/2647329, attracted to polypores and (especially) oyster mushrooms. There is a striking male/female colour dimorphism, with the male having a metallic-looking microtrichose mesonotum—but their behaviour seems unstudied. #Diptera #Entomology