Golden Head Rutilia Fly I - Rutilia (Ameniamima) argentifera
Family Tachinidae
This page contains pictures and information about Golden Head Rutilia Flies that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Female, body length 15mm
- This large Golden Head Rutilia Fly is metallic dark blue-green in colour with bright orange-yellow colour head. On the thorax and abdomen there are the shiny white spots patterns. Different individuals may have slightly different patterns.
- This fly can be identified from other Golden Head Rutilia Flies by its postorbits (the narrow strips behind eyes) are entirely bright yellow.
- Male
- Female
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- Scutellum
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- Golden Head Rutilia Fly is nectar feeder and assist the flower plants for pollination. Adults are usually found resting on the sunny side of tree trunk. Adults feed on flowers, notably Eucalyptus. Females rest on ground when larvipositing.
- Most pictures in this page were taken in Alexandra Hill and Karawatha Forest during mid summer. We usually found them in the forests with small creek. They usually rest on tree trunk heading downwards, about a meter from ground. It seemed that they are waiting or looking for something. As other group in subfamily Dexiinae, flies in Rutiliini are parasitic in larval Coleoptera (beetle) especially Scarabaeidae.
- This Golden Head Rutilia Fly looks similar to those flies in Ameniinae, which is another group of large metallic flies in family Calliphoridae.
- Reference:
- 1. Wildlife of Tropical North Queensland - Queensland Museum Publications 2000, p108.
- 2. Wildlife of Greater Brisbane - New edition, Published by Queensland Museum 2007, p138.
- 3. Morphometrics in the genus Amenia and revisionary notes on the Australian Ameniinae (Diptera: Calliphoridae), with the description of eight new species - Colless, 1998, Rec. Aust. Mus. 50(1): 85–123.
- 4. A systematic revision of the Ameniinae (Diptera: Calliphoridae) - Crosskey, R.W. 1965, Bull. Br. Mus. (Nat. Hist). Entomol. 16: 33-140. (23 August).
- 5. A revisionary classification of the Rutiliini (Diptera: Tachinidae), : with keys to the described species - R. W. Crosskey, British Museum (Natural History), Bulletin, Entomology, Supplement 19, 1973.
- 6. A conspectus of the Tachinidae (Diptera) of Australia, including keys to the supraspecific taxa and taxonomic and host catalogues - R. W. Crosskey, British Museum (Natural History), Bulletin, Entomology, Supplement 21, 1973.
- 1. Wildlife of Tropical North Queensland - Queensland Museum Publications 2000, p108.
