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Philonicus albiceps

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Philonicus albiceps
Philonicus albiceps Anglesey, North Wales
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Asilidae
Genus: Philonicus
Species:
P. albiceps
Binomial name
Philonicus albiceps
(Meigen, 1820)

Philonicus albiceps is a species of 'robber fly' belonging to the family Asilidae. It is a Palearctic species with a limited distribution in Europe [1]

Description

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Philonicus albiceps is light yellowish grey, often with darker markings. The legs are black. It has a scutellum with two pale marginal bristles and an ovipositor with a circlet of short spines".[2][3]

Philonicus albiceps with prey

Biology

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The habitat is coastal sand dunes, sitting on bare sand among marram (more rarely at sandy places inland). Prey species include other dipteran species, including smaller asilids, Hymenoptera and Odonata.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Fauna Europaea
  2. ^ Oldroyd, Harold (1969). Diptera Brachycera. (a), Tabanoidea and Asiloidea. London: Royal Entomological Society of London. ISBN 090154602X.
  3. ^ Verrall, George Henry (1909). Statiomyidae and succeeding families of the Diptera Brachycera of Great Britain / by G. H. Verrall; drawings of J. E. Collin. London: Gurney & Jackson.
  4. ^ Hobby, B.M., 1930 The British species of Asilidae (Diptera) and their prey. Trans. Entomol. Soc. of South England. No. 6. pp. 1-42.