Tachinid flies

Overview

Admontia is a genus of parasitic flies in the family Tachinidae. It occurs in Europe and North America. There are 38 Admontia species worldwide, 12 species in North America north of Mexico, and at least 1 species in Minnesota.

Admontia larvae are parasitic on the larvae of crane flies (family Tipulidae), and there are records of one species Admontia degeerioides parasitizing two species of moth larvae.

Description

The following characters differentiate the genus Admontia from other genera in the tribe Blondeliini.

The eyes are bare. On males, the bristles along the inner margin of the compound eyes (orbital bristles) are bent or pointed forward. On the side of the face there are hairs at least on the upper third. There are bristles on more than half of the ridge that runs down the center of the face (facial ridge). The cheeks (genae) are very broad. The antennae have three segments. The third segment has a large bristle (arista) on the upper surface. The arista is thickened at least on the lower half.

The thorax is large and it has three segments. Each segment has four principal exoskeletal plates, one above, one below, and one on each side. The upper (dorsal) plates, from front to rear, are the prescutum, scutum, and scutellum. The scutum is large and rounded. On each side of the scutum, in the shoulder (humeral) area just behind the head, there is a small plate (postpronotum). The postpronotum has three bristles arranged in a triangle. The inner basal bristle is often weak, and it is sometimes absent.

On the front legs of the female, the last part of the leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, is swollen or flattened on most species.