''Rhaphium pectinatum'' is a species of long-legged fly 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 is distributed in

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 ...

Distribution

''R. pectinatum'' has been recorded from

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

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Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

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and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. On 25 June 2015, a single male specimen was caught by Robert J. Wolton at the

Devon Wildlife Trust The Devon Wildlife Trust is a member of The Wildlife Trusts partnership covering the county of Devon, England. It is a registered charity, established in 1961 as the Devon Naturalists Trust, and its aim is to safeguard the future of the county's ...

's Old Sludge Beds reserve, on the outskirts of

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

in Devon, England. The species was previously presumed to be extinct in Britain, as it had not been recorded in the country since 1868, when

George Henry Verrall George Henry Verrall (7 February 1848 – 16 September 1911) was a British horse racing official, entomologist, botanist and Conservative politician. Horse racing Verrall was born in Lewes, Sussex. Following education at Lewes Grammar School ...

caught a male and female at

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

in south-west London.

References

* Rhaphiinae Insects described in 1859 Taxa named by Hermann Loew Diptera of Europe {{dolichopodidae-stub