New Zealand bat fly: Difference between revisions
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| ordo = [[Fly|Diptera]] |
| ordo = [[Fly|Diptera]] |
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| familia = '''Mystacinobiidae''' |
| familia = '''Mystacinobiidae''' |
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| genus = ''Mystacinobia'' |
| genus = '''''Mystacinobia''''' |
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| species = '''''M. zealandica''''' |
| species = '''''M. zealandica''''' |
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| binomial = ''Mystacinobia zealandica'' |
| binomial = ''Mystacinobia zealandica'' |
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Revision as of 02:28, 28 January 2009
| New Zealand batfly | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
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| Infraclass: | |
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| Family: | Mystacinobiidae
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| Genus: | Mystacinobia
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| Species: | M. zealandica
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| Binomial name | |
| Mystacinobia zealandica | |
The New Zealand batfly, Mystacinobia zealandica, is a small, wingless insect which lives in a symbiotic relationship with the New Zealand Lesser Short-tailed Bat. It is a member of the true flies that belong to the order Diptera[1] but is so unusual that it is placed in its own genus, Mystacinobia, and family, Mystacinobiidae - this monotypic family is endemic to New Zealand.[2]
Description
New Zealand batflies are 3 mm long,[3] wingless in both sexes,[2] blind,[4] and have long, bristly, spider-like legs which end in specially adapted claws which are thought to help them "swim" through bat fur.[4][5] Males are larger than females[6][1] and look quite different; one Japanese expert when sent some of the first specimens collected for scientific study suggested that they were different species.[7]
Discovery
Mystacinobia was discovered in 1958[1] and the first specimen was catalogued for analysis by a zoologist named P.D. Dwyer in 1962 after it dropped out of the fur of a Short-tailed Bat he was looking after.[5] In 1973 a 56 metre high kauri tree named Kopi (thought to be the third largest in the country after Tane Mahuta and Te Matua Ngahere) in the Omahuta Kauri Sanctuary in Northland containing a large colony of short tailed bats collapsed. When inspected the following day a dead bat with three batflies on it was found by a NZ forest service officer who sent the insects to Auckland to be studied.[8] The oppurtunity to study live batflies and learn about their behaviour and ecology was lost when the bats deserted their felled roost before a team of scientists from DSIR was assembled to investigate it. [9] Two years later on 14 march 1975 however, the kauri tree which the bats that had previously occupied Kopi had moved into was blown over as Cyclone Allison swept through Northland. [10] This time entomologists were able to collect a large number of batflies for anatomical studies and to keep in captivity so that their behaviour could be properly studied[11][1]
Taxonomy and naming
Molecular analysis suggests that it evolved from a blowfly ancestor.[2] the ancestors of the host species (Icarops, a miocene bat which lived 20MYA) also lived in australia but it is not know whether the New Zealand Batfly evolved there or in New Zealand as it could have been transported across the Tasman Sea with its host[2]
References
- ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference
Ballance Morriswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c d Gibbs G.(2008). Ghosts of Gondwana, page 16. Craig Potton publishing
- ^ Ballance A. Morris R.(2008).Rare Wildlife of New Zealand, page 39. Random House
- ^ a b Meads M.(1990). Forgotten Fauna, page 92. DSIR publishing
- ^ a b Hunt R. Morris. R. (2006) Batfly!, page 105. New Zealand Geographic # 81
- ^ Hunt R. Morris. R. (2006) Batfly!, page 112. New Zealand Geographic # 81
- ^ Hunt R. Morris. R. (2006) Batfly!, page 112. New Zealand Geographic # 81
- ^ Hunt R. Morris. R. (2006) Batfly!, page 106. New Zealand Geographic # 81
- ^ Hunt R. Morris. R. (2006) Batfly!, page 110. New Zealand Geographic # 81
- ^ Hunt R. Morris. R. (2006) Batfly!, page 110. New Zealand Geographic # 81
- ^ Hunt R. Morris. R. (2006) Batfly!, page 110. New Zealand Geographic # 81