''Ostenia'' is a genus of

flies Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwin ...

in the family

Dolichopodidae Dolichopodidae, the long-legged flies, are a large, cosmopolitan family of true flies with more than 8,000 described species in about 250 genera. The genus '' Dolichopus'' is the most speciose, with some 600 species. Dolichopodidae generally a ...

. It contains only one species, ''Ostenia robusta'', which is endemic to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The species was first described by Frederick Hutton in 1901, and the genus was named after

Carl Robert Osten-Sacken Carl Robert Osten-Sacken or Carl-Robert Romanovich, Baron von der Osten-Sacken, Baron Osten Sacken (21 August 1828, – 20 May 1906) was a German-Russian diplomat and entomologist. He served as the Russian consul general in New York City duri ...

. Not much is known about the biology or ecology of the species. In 2012 and 2013, ''O. robusta'' larvae were found feeding on pupae of '' Costelytra zealandica'' (grass grub), suggesting that ''O. robusta'' are predators of ''C. zealandia'' pupae. However, later observations in 2014 and 2015 contradicted these findings.

References

Diaphorinae Dolichopodidae genera Diptera of New Zealand Monotypic Brachycera genera Endemic insects of New Zealand Taxa named by Frederick Hutton (scientist) {{Dolichopodidae-stub