With a title from the Guinness Book of Records for halloweeniani references (which I certainly do not catch much, but because it put the period), I present an almost mythical creature, not seen more than 160 years. A nocturnal animal that feeds on rotting flesh of large mammals, only active during the winter months, capable of producing light - like fireflies - From the big orange head. What new horror we talking about?
E 'a fly: the Thyreophora cynophila . Considered globally extinct until a few days ago - the first of its extinct species indirectly by human behavior - the "bone skipper" (saltaossa) known to us as "fly-red", was first described by a German entomologist, Georg WF Panzer, who found the carcass of a dog in Mannheim in 1798. Not by chance was called Musca cynophila , Hundefliege or German, or "dog fly" was then moved by JW Meigen between the group of Thyreophora, meaning "shield bearers" in reference to scutellum large adult males that have the back area.
Nice to look at - Entomology talking about - bright orange with head, legs and body, metallic blue, and two blacks for each wing, the fly was observed for only 42 years, then disappeared altogether in 1840 . Now, unexpectedly, was found by Daniel Martin-Vega and colleagues at the University of Alcala of Madrid, close to the English capital and throughout the province of La Rioja.
Our little friend is a bit 'picky eating habits. E ' sarcosaprofaga , or simply not carrion eater, but only bone marrow carcasses themselves. In the past, these animals were victims of attacks of bears and wolves, who used to tear and break the bones of their prey. With the chase, the man has removed the predator and its modus operandi which provides food to our fly red. So the decline of large predators, safe storage and disposal of cattle carcasses have deprived the T. cynophila nourishment revealing his Achilles' heel: its superspecializzazione food.
If new specimens have taken a step backwards in the evolutionary chain, feeding time in other parts of carcasses, we can not know, since there was no ghost, for now. Also difficult because the night, in winter, the entomologists out to collect specimens of flies who believe extinct ...
Curiosity: why then "saltaossa? Like all flies of the family Piophilidae, flies fold and unfold the body like a spring, leaping just bone on bone, hence the name.
In Italy a relative of the familiar saltaossa: the saltaformaggio. The larvae of the "cheese skipper" are only 8 mm long but may jump up to 15 cm by "spring" with their bodies ... Larvin and what you remember this? Some Sardinian out there? Exactly, the larvae are deliberately introduced by man in casu Delicious Marzu Sardinia.
These flies (Piophilidae those in the genus) are also useful in forensic science: in fact colonize any carcass just three to six months from death, thus allowing a precise date in the case of Unfortunate discoveries of human bodies.
In the 19th century, scientists were impressed that the head for the glow emitted in the dark: this event, "mythological" must still be reflected in the modern copies, but hard to find - finally - back from the realm of the extinct .
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