The fly Poecilographa decora (Loew, 1864), a species of the molluscivorous dipteran family Sciomyzidae. One of two specimens in the Virginia Tech Insect Collection (collected by T. Bailey from Montgomery Co., Virginia, 1975).
Most species of the fly family Sciomyzidae, including P. decora, feed exclusively on non-operculate snails, slugs and clams. However, very little is known about the natural history of these enigmatic flies. For more details about this species and others, join Joe Keiper, an entomologist and fly expert at the VMNH, and other entomologists including scientists from Virginia Tech tomorrow at BugDaze at the Virginia Museum of Natural History (Martinsville, VA).
(Canon 6D, 65 mm lens, 3x, 1/60s, f5.6 – stack of 22 images)
- Berg, C.O. (1953) Sciomyzid larvae (Diptera) that feed on snails. The Journal of parasitology, 39(6): 630-636. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3274083]
- Berg, C.O., & Knutson, L. (1978). Biology and systematics of the Sciomyzidae. Annual Review of Entomology, 23(1): 239-258. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev.en.23.010178.001323]
- Barnes, J.K. (1988) Notes on the biology and immature stages of Poecilographa decora (Loew) (Diptera: Sciomyzidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 90(4): 474-479. [http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16144900]
