User:Scientia Insectorum/sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vestigipoda is a genus of myrmecophilous flies in the family Phoridae which live in the nests of army ants. The genus was discovered in Malaysia in 1994 from a colony of Aenictus gracilis and described in 1996 by dipterologist Ronald Henry Disney.[2] The biology of Vestigipoda is still poorly understood, but they are highly derived and specialized for posing as ants and living inside ant colonies. Their eggs and larvae closely resemble the eggs and larvae of their hosts. Adult females are legless, wingless, and mimic the host larvae as well. Adult males are not yet described, but exist and are presumably winged.[2] As of 2008, all known species of Vestigipoda are found in Malaysia and inhabit the nests of various Aenictus species.[3]
| Scientia Insectorum/sandbox | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Phoridae |
| Genus: | Vestigipoda Disney, 1996 |
| Type species | |
| Vestigipoda myrmolarvoidea Disney, 1996 | |
| Species[1] | |
| |