Ent. Tidskr. 132 (2011)
Rune Bygebjerg
A population of the picture-winged fly Platystoma
seminatione (Fabricius, 1775) found in Skåne – new to the
Swedish fauna (Diptera: Platystomatidae)
Rune Bygebjerg
Bygebjerg, R.: A population of the picture-winged fly Platystoma seminatione (Fabricius,
1775) found in Skåne – new to the Swedish fauna (Diptera: Platystomatidae). [En population av bredmunsflugan Platystoma seminatione (Fabricius, 1775) funnen i Skåne – ny
för den svenska fauna (Diptera: Platystomatidae).] – Entomologisk Tidskrift 132 (1):
32-34. Uppsala, Sweden 2011. ISSN 0013-886x.
The picture-winged fly Platystoma seminatione was in 2010 recorded for the first time in
Sweden. Several specimens were found on a site near Svaneholm in Skåne. The species is
recorded from most neighboring countries, and so the Swedish occurrence was expected.
The family Platystomatidae is in Sweden represented by only one other species.
Rune Bygebjerg, Zoologiska Museet, Lunds Universitet, Helgonavägen 3, 223 62 Lund.
E-mail: rune.bygebjerg@zool.lu.se
On a visit to Svaneholm Castle near Skurup in
Skåne, June 15th 2010, four specimens of the
picture-winged fly Platystoma seminatione (Fabricius, 1775) were found. This is the first record
of the species and genus from Sweden. The colour pattern on the wings is typical for species of
the genus Platystoma (Fig. 1). The underside of
abdomen is partly yellowish, in some specimens
in a very bright yellow colour. The back of the
head has a characteristic form in lateral view.
The site where the imagines where found (Fig.
2), is the path connecting the buildings of the
castle Svaneholm and the protected nature area
Hästhagen. The later is dominated by deciduous
forest. On one side of the path is a cultivated field
with rapeseed (Brassica napus).
The flies were initially observed, while they
were resting or walking around on leaves of Aegopodium podagraria, and later other specimens
were found by sweeping the surrounding vegetation with an insect net. The location was visited
again on June 25th and July 3rd, and on both
these days several specimens of P. seminatione
were found. They were swept from exactly the
32
same plants as the first time, and were found only
within a very small area. On another visit on July
27th, the area was searched again, but this time
only a single specimen was found. The location
was also visited a few times in August and September, but on these occasions the search for P.
seminatione was without positive result. Based
on the number of observations in 2010, the species seems to be well established at this site near
Svaneholm.
Some of the collected Swedish specimens of
P. seminatione are deposited in Zoologiska Museet in Lund, and others are donated to Zoologisk
Museum in Copenhagen.
The family Platystomatidae
Platystomatidae is part of the superfamily Tephritoidea including the family Tephritidae with
nearly 80 species in Sweden. Merz (1996) and
Beuk (2002) list the number of species of Platystomatidae in some European countries. In several countries in NV Europe only two species
are recorded, but e.g. in Poland four species
are known and in Germany three species (Beuk
Ent. Tidskr. 132 (2011)
Figure 1. Male of Platystoma seminatione. Svaneholm, June 25th 2010. The second species of this
family in Sweden.
Hanne av Platystoma seminatione, en fluga som hör
till familjen bredmunsflugor och hittades för första
gången i Sverige under 2010. Denna art är den andra
inom familjen som hittas i Sverige.
The fly Platystoma seminatione new to Sweden
2002). The world fauna counts more than thousand species (Beuk 2002).
Larvae of Platystomatidae develop in decaying plant materials or in roots. According to
Foote (1985) host plants of 8 of the 30 Nearctic
species of Rivellia are known, and these species are all associated to Leguminosae plants.
The larvae of Rivellia pallidata Loew attack the
Nitrogen-fixing nodules on the roots. Imagines
of Platystomatidae have been reported visiting
dung, carrion, and occasionally they visit flowers.
Examples of rather peculiar mating rituals
are known in several species of Platystomatidae
(e.g.: Petersen 1961). In the genus Platystoma
this behaviour has been well documented (e.g.:
The world of minibeasts, www.arthropods.de).
The family Platystomatidae is in Sweden represented by only one other species, Rivellia syngenesiae (Fabricius, 1781). It is rather common
in the southernmost part of Sweden. Wahlgren
(1919) mentions it from the districts Skåne to
Bohuslän and Västergötland. In the collections
in Zoologiska Museet, Lund and in Riksmuseet,
Stockholm, the northernmost records are from
Värmland and Uppland. On Artportalen the species is also reported from Dalarna. R. syngenesiae is most often found in or near meadows.
Greve (1990) suggests an association to plants
of the genus Lotus.
Figure 2. The site
near
Svaneholm
where a population
Platystoma seminatione was found.
Fyndplatsen
vid
Svaneholm
nära
Skurup i Skåne där
en population av
Platystoma seminatione höll till på
en mycket liten yta
under juni och juli
2010.
33
Ent. Tidskr. 132 (2011)
Rune Bygebjerg
The species
P. seminatione was described the by the Danish
entomologist J. C. Fabricius based on material
from Germany. Several subspecies have been
described (Soos & Papp 1984). A key to the
European species in the genus Platystoma was
published by Hendel (1913); this is still the most
complete work on the European fauna.
In England imagines of P. seminatione are
found in May and June (Colyer & Hammond
1951). In other parts of Europe they are recorded
from May to October, presumably in two generations. The species is reported from several
types of habitats, including gardens.
It was expected that P. seminatione could be
living in Sweden, and the species is recorded
from most European countries including Finland, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and
England. In Norway the only record is a female
specimen captured in 1982 in a Malaise-trap
(Greve 1990, pers. comm.). Records from Denmark are mentioned e.g. in Petersen & Meier
(2001), but no Danish material exists in the
collections at the museums in Copenhagen and
Århus. Lyneborg (1964) does not mention any
Danish records, and I have not been able to find
any documentation for occurrence in Denmark
prior to 2009, when an observation from Møns
Klint was reported (www.fugleognatur.dk/wildaboutdenmark). The large amount of data published on this private homepage includes quite
a lot of doubtful observations and misidentifications, but this observation seems reliable, although the published photo for some reason has
been removed.
Historically the dipterous fauna of the province Skåne has been well investigated, and it is
most likely that P. seminatione is a rather recent
newcomer in Sweden, and thus an example
among several insect species, which are expanding their distributions northwards. The most
likely scenario for P. seminatione in the nearest future is an expanding of the distribution to
other areas in the southernmost parts of Sweden
and Denmark.
Acknowledgments
Lita Greve Jensen kindly helped with information
on Platystomatidae in Norway, and Niklas Jönsson
provided information on material in the collection in
34
Riksmuseet. Sven Hellqvist helped with constructive
comments on the manuscript.
References
Beuk, P.L.T. 2002. Checklist of the Diptera of the
Netherlands. – KNNV Uitgeverij, Utrecht.
Colyer, C.N. & Hammond, C.O. 1951. Flies of the
British Isles. – Frederick Warne and Co. Ltd. London.
Foote, B.A. 1985. Biology of Rivellia pallidata
(Diptera: Platystomatidae), a Consumer of the
Nitrogen-fixing Root Nodules of Amphicarpa
bracteata (Leguminosae). – J. Kans. entomol.
Soc. 58: 27-35.
Greve, L. 1990. The family Platystomatidae (Diptera)
in Norway. – Fauna norv. Ser. B 37: 107-110.
Hendel, F. 1913. Die Gattung Platystoma Meigen
(Dipt.). Eine monographishe Übersicht die Arten.
– Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere 35: 55126.
Lyneborg, L. 1964. Danske acalyptrate fluer. 2. Psilidae, Platystomidae og Otitidae (Diptera). – Ent.
Meddr. 32: 367-384.
Merz, B. 1996. Zur Faunistik der Pyrgotidae, Platystomatidae und Ulidiidae (=Otitidae) (Diptera,
Tephritoidea) der Schweiz mit spezieller Berücksichtgung von Otites Latreille. – Mitt. Schweiz.
entomol. Ges. 69: 405-416.
Petersen, A. 1961. Parringsleg iagttaget hos Rivellia syngenesiae (Diptera, Platystomidae). – Ent.
Meddr. 31:115.
Petersen, F.T. & Meier, R. 2001. A preliminary list
of the Diptera of Denmark. – Steenstrupia 26(2):
119-276.
Soos, A. & Papp, L. 1984. Catalogue of Palaearctic
Diptera 9. – Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest.
Wahlgren, E. 1919. Tvåvingar. Diptera 2. Andra underordningen. Flugor. Cyclorapha. Andra gruppen. Schizophora. Fam. 13-20. – Svensk Insektfauna 11: 246.
Sammanfattning
En ny flugart har hittats i Sverige vid Svaneholm
i Skåne. Arten, Platystoma seminatione (Fabricius, 1775) tillhör familjen bredmunsflugor,
som vi enbart haft en enda art av i landet tidigare. Flugorna befann sig inom ett mycket litet
område, bara några kvadratmeter, och kunde
påträffas vid fyra olika besök mellan 15 juni och
27 juli, men inte senare. Larverna lever i rötter
av någon växt. Det troligaste är att denna fluga
nyligen expanderat sin utbredning in i Sverige
och om det varma somrarna fortsätter kommer
expansionen norrut förmodligen fortsätta.