Toxonevra superba

Toxonevra superba
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Clade:	Pancrustacea
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Pallopteridae
Genus:	Toxonevra
Species:	T. superba
Binomial name
Toxonevra superba (Loew, 1861)

Toxonevra superba, also known as the antlered flutter fly, is a species of flutter fly in the family Pallopteridae. The species is native to eastern North America.

Description

Adults are yellowish-brown in color and are 3 to 6 mm in length. They have clear wings with dark brown markings that resemble antlers. The upper thorax has two pale stripes and two parallel rows of bristles. They have two large compound eyes and three ocelli.

The species occurs from the US states of Maine and Minnesota to Georgia and Nebraska, as well as from Nova Scotia to Alberta. The larvae feed on plants and may prey upon the larvae of the bark beetle. The species lives in moist, shady places, and the males extend and vibrate their wings like other Pallopteridae.

Further reading

• Arnett, Ross H. Jr. (2000). American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico (2nd ed.). CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-0212-9.
• McAlpine, J.F.; Petersen, B.V.; Shewell, G.E.; Teskey, H.J.; et al. (1987). Manual of Nearctic Diptera. Research Branch Agriculture Canada. ISBN 978-0660121253.

External links

• Media related to Toxonevra superba at Wikimedia Commons