Curtonotidae Enderlein, 1914

Jan Máca

Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the CR, Nám. Přemysla Otakara 34, CZ-370 01 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; jan_maca@nature.cz

Curtonotidae are moderately large slender flies, conspicuously large for members of the superfamily Ephydroidea. The only species reaching the Pannonian district of Central Europe, Curtonotum anus (Meigen, 1830), is 6.0-9.0 mm long, yellowish-grey to grey. Arista with long rays both dorsally and ventrally. Orbital setae two, far from eye margin. Wing with two costal breaks, apical one at junction of the fully developed subcosta and close to junction of R1. Costa with a row of thorns. The bionomics are unknown, but at least one African species develops as a scavenger in the egg masses of Acridoidea in sandy biotopes (Greathead 1958).

Most of the species of this family, comprising over 60 known species in three genera, live in the tropics. C. anus is the only species occurring in Europe; its distribution reaches south-eastern Moravia (collections in the vicinity of Strážnice in the years 1972 and 1973) (Martinek 1982) and Slovakia (three localities mentioned by Martinek 1986). There are no new records of this species from the Czech Republic or Slovakia, in spite of intensive collecting in recent years e.g. in the Pálava (south-eastern Moravia) (Máca 1997). However, it is known that the species occurs on the Pannonian plain very rarely and locally – in Hungary it was found in the years 1977-1980 after almost fifty years without records (Papp 1987). Comprehensive information on C. anus is given by (Papp 1998).

References

[1] Greathead D.J. 1958: Notes on the larva and life history of Curtonotum cuthbersoni Duda (Diptera, Drosophilidae), a fly associated with the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Forskal). Entomologist's monthly magazin 94: 36-37.

[2] Máca J. 1997: Curtonotidae. In Chvála M. (ed.): Check List of Diptera (Insecta) of the Czech and Slovak Republics. Karolinum, Praha, p. 86.

[3] Martinek V. 1982: K poznání jarního společenstva dvoukřídlých (Diptera – Acalyptrata) v povodí řeky Moravy. Časopis národního muzea, řada přírodovědná 153: 49-54.

[4] Martinek V. 1986: Čeľaď: Curtonotidae. In Čepelák J. (ed.): Diptera Slovenska. Veda, Bratislava, p. 116.

[5] Papp L. 1987: Sphaeroceridae, Periscelididae, Asteiidae, Aulacigastridae, Curtonotidae, Camillidae, Drosophilidae, Odiniidae, Acartophthalmidae, Gasterophilidae, Oestridae and Hypodermatidae (Diptera) of the Kiskunság National Park. In: The fauna of the Kiskunság National Park, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, pp. 277-290.

[6] Papp L. 1998: Family Curtonotidae. In Papp L.& Darvas B. (eds): Contributions to the Manual of Palaearctic Diptera, Vol. 3. Science Herald, Budapest,  497-502.