Xylophagidae
Xylophagus ater
The Xylophaginae, also known as wood fly in a narrow sense, a subfamily of the family of wood flies are ( Xylophagidae ).
Features
These flies are slender and usually superficially resemble the parasitic wasps that belong to the Hymenoptera, however. The wood fly of the subfamily Xylophaginae have a relatively large head with long antennae.
Way of life
In light deciduous forests they often fly up and down the trunks, the biological role of this behavior is, however, not known ( courtship behavior? ). They probably feed on tree sap, which they lick on tree wounds. The equally slender larvae live under the bark of deciduous trees or decaying dead wood and stumps. They are predators and feed on various insect larvae and worms. Overwintering probably occurs always as a larva.
System
Worldwide there are 35 species known from this group, in Germany only four. In Europe, a genus is represented by five species.
- Xylophagus ater Meigen, 1804
- Xylophagus cinctus ( De Geer, 1776)
- Xylophagus junki ( Szilády, 1932)
- Xylophagus kowarzi ( Pleske, 1925)
- Xylophagus matsumurae Miyatake, 1965
Fossil evidence
Fossil wood flies are extremely rare. So far, three kinds of eozänem Baltic amber have been described only. In addition, from the same deposit additional genera, which are assigned to the guided occasionally as an independent family Rachiceridae. About not yet certain wood fly is reported from Cretaceous Siberian amber.