Phaonia tuguriorum = signata (Leatherjacket Bristleshin)
05/12/2025: Big Covert, Maeshafn, Denbighshire.
I found this fly under loose bark on a fallen dead tree. It was identified for me by Ian Andrews on the UK Diptera Facebook group.
This fly has hairy eyes, a not particularly uncommon feature among insects, and the wide spacing of the eyes indicates that this is a female.
I include the following notes from Steven Falk’s Flickr collection:
“Please note that it is proposed that this species will return to being known as P. signata (the name used by Fonseca in his 1968 RES handbook) following the paper by Michelsen & Pont, 2024. The much rarer species traditionally known as P. scutellata will become P. tuguriorum. [… …] P. tuguriorum is a widespread and common species that can turn up in a tremendous variety of habitats. The larvae develop in soil, mosses and decaying vegetation and seem to be primarily predators of soil-dwelling leatherjackets (e.g. Tipula paludosa). Adults fly from spring to autumn and some clearly overwinter as adults because it can often be recorded on mild winter days. It can be one of the commonest muscids of early spring. Adults visit flowers such as Lesser Celandine and umbellifers.
www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/albums/72157720118552479/
Phaonia tuguriorum = signata (Leatherjacket Bristleshin)
05/12/2025: Big Covert, Maeshafn, Denbighshire.
I found this fly under loose bark on a fallen dead tree. It was identified for me by Ian Andrews on the UK Diptera Facebook group.
This fly has hairy eyes, a not particularly uncommon feature among insects, and the wide spacing of the eyes indicates that this is a female.
I include the following notes from Steven Falk’s Flickr collection:
“Please note that it is proposed that this species will return to being known as P. signata (the name used by Fonseca in his 1968 RES handbook) following the paper by Michelsen & Pont, 2024. The much rarer species traditionally known as P. scutellata will become P. tuguriorum. [… …] P. tuguriorum is a widespread and common species that can turn up in a tremendous variety of habitats. The larvae develop in soil, mosses and decaying vegetation and seem to be primarily predators of soil-dwelling leatherjackets (e.g. Tipula paludosa). Adults fly from spring to autumn and some clearly overwinter as adults because it can often be recorded on mild winter days. It can be one of the commonest muscids of early spring. Adults visit flowers such as Lesser Celandine and umbellifers.
www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/albums/72157720118552479/