Platystoma 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 ...

(Diptera) belonging to the family

Platystomatidae The Platystomatidae (signal flies) are a distinctive family of Fly, flies (Diptera) in the superfamily Tephritoidea. Signal flies are worldwide in distribution, found in all the biogeographic realms, but predominantly in the tropics. It is one ...

Description

Platystoma species are small flies reaching a length of 4–10 millimeters. The body is black speckled with small whitish or yellowish markings, while the eyes are usually red. They have a quite broad proboscis (hence the Latin name ''Platystoma'', meaning "broad mouth"). The wings are blackish with clear speckles. These flies show a complex mating ritual.

Distribution

Species belonging to this genus are present in most of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, in the eastern

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The ...

, in the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

and in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

Taxonomy

The genus is in need of revision to clarify the position of many subspecies that are currently listed. Most of these subspecies were designated by Hennig, but some have been raised to full species since.Rivosecchi, L. 2000. Contribution to the knowledge of Italian species of genus ''Platystoma'' (Diptera, Platystomatidae). ''Fragmenta Entomologica'' 32(1): 163-179. The list below incorporates those names more recently upgraded to species, but leaves the remainder of the subspecies designated by Hennig as subspecies until their position can be rectified by revision.

Species

Becker Becker () is one of the German-language surnames, along with Bäcker and Baecker, that derive from the root, which refers to baking. The surname began as a name for a baker (and thus his family). In northern Germany, it can also derive from th ...

, 1907 *'' P. plantationis'' ( Rondani, 1869) *'' P. provinciale'' Loew, 1868 *'' P. pubescens'' Loew, 1845 *'' P. punctiventre'' Portschinsky, 1875 *'' P. rufipes'' Meigen, 1826 *'' P. seminationis'' (

Fabricius Fabricius (, ) is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *people from the Ancient Roman Fabricia gens, gens Fabricia: **Gaius Fabricius Luscinus, the first of the Fabricii to move to Rome * Johann Goldsmid (1587–1616), known by his ...

, 1775) *'' P. soosi'' Krivosheina & Krivosheina, 1996 *'' P. stackelbergi'' Soós, 1979 *'' P. strix'' Portschinsky, 1875 *'' P. suave'' Loew, 1873 *'' P. subfasciatum'' Loew, 1862 *'' P. subtile'' Loew, 1868 *'' P. tegularum'' Loew, 1859 *'' P. ussuricum'' Korneyev, 1991

References

External links

Biolib

Fauna Europaea

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3018864 Diptera of Africa Muscomorph flies of Europe Platystomatidae Tephritoidea genera Taxa named by Johann Wilhelm Meigen