''Poecilobothrus majesticus'' is an

extinct species This page features lists of species and organisms that have become extinct. The reasons for extinction range from natural occurrences, such as shifts in the Earth's ecosystem or natural disasters, to human influences on nature by the overuse of n ...

fly Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

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 ...

that was

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. The species is known from a single male specimen collected near the

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

coast in

Walton-on-the-Naze Walton-on-the-Naze is a seaside town on the North Sea coast. It is part of the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring District, Tendring district in Essex, England. The town is located north of Clacton and south of the port of Harwich; ...

in 1907, and it was formally described by E. C. M. d'Assis-Fonseca in 1976. It has not been recorded for over 100 years, so it is therefore considered to be extinct.

History of research

The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

and only known specimen of ''P. majesticus'', an adult male, was collected from Walton-on-the-Naze in 1907. Many years later, D'Assis-Fonseca rediscovered this specimen deposited in the

Oxford University Museum of Natural History The Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH) is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It also contains a lecture theatre which is used by the univers ...

, in the Verrall-Collin collection of the Hope Department. In 1976, D'Assis-Fonseca published a formal description of a new species based on the specimen, named ''Poecilobothrus majesticus''. He reported that it had a label identifying it as ''

Poecilobothrus bigoti ''Poecilobothrus'' is a genus of flies in the family Dolichopodidae. Species *'' Poecilobothrus aberrans'' ( Loew, 1871) – Tajikistan *'' Poecilobothrus annulitarsis'' Kazerani, Pollet & Khaghaninia ''in'' Kazerani, Khaghaninia, Talebi, Persso ...

'', but stated that it didn't fit

Josef Mik Josef Mik, also Joseph Mik (23 March 1839 in Zábřeh – 13 October 1900 in Vienna) was a Bohemian entomologist mainly interested in Diptera. He described many new species and made contributions to knowledge of the Diptera of Central Europe. Mik ...

's original description of that species. He also stated that the only Palaearctic species of ''Poecilobothrus'' that the specimen resembled was ''

Poecilobothrus basilicus ''Poecilobothrus'' is a genus of flies in the family Dolichopodidae. Species *'' Poecilobothrus aberrans'' ( Loew, 1871) – Tajikistan *'' Poecilobothrus annulitarsis'' Kazerani, Pollet & Khaghaninia ''in'' Kazerani, Khaghaninia, Talebi, Persso ...

'', but that it differed enough from it to be considered a distinct species. A 2018 report reviewing the

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

of Dolichopodidae in Great Britain concluded that ''P. majesticus'' was "Regionally Extinct", justifying the status by stating that the species had not been recorded for over 100 years despite the recording effort within the Essex coast. In 2022, the species was classified on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

as extinct.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13956272 Dolichopodinae Insects described in 1976 Extinct insects since 1500 Endemic fauna of England Extinct animals in the United Kingdom Species known from a single specimen