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| | | Conops flavipes | | Conops flavipes - Conops (Conops) flavipes - belong to the subgenus "Conops (Conops)", in the order Diptera, the suborder flies (Brachycera), the infraorder Muscomorpha (section: Schizophora; subsection: Acalyptratae), the superfamily Conopoidea, the family Conopidae, the subfamily Conopinae, the tribe Conopini and the genus Conops. Conops melanocephala is a scientific synonym for Conops flavipes. Conops flavipes are common in the European and Asian Palaearctic zone. | | |
| | | Adults reach body lengths of 9 - 13 mm. Their bodies have a blue-black base colour with yellow markings. Their colouration mimics that of their larvae’s host insects. | | |
| | | The head is large, looks swollen up and is dark brown to black in colour. On him there is a short, thick trunk. These insects have a short, thick proboscis. The forehead is yellow at the sides and bears a transparent cyst (the identifying characteristic for all Conopidae). The underside of the female’s face, has a whitish-yellow shimmer with a dark keel. Their compound eyes are large and striking and allow them to see well. The antennae are black with a brown 3rd segment, fan-shaped and stand on humplike black projections which have yellow edges, and (as well as the trunk) the antennae are longer than the head. | | |
| | | The black chest section (thorax) bulges at the shoulders. These bulges are yellow. The triangular scutellum is also yellow. The first abdominal segment also has yellow bulges at the sides. The entire abdomen is yellow and black and is thus wasp-like in appearance. In the females only the 2nd and 3rd segment have a yellow stripe at the rear edges. The 5th and 6th segment look like they are covered with dull yellow dust. | | |
| | | Conops flavipes have a wingspan of about 20 mm. The wings are transparent, brown at their base, long and narrow. The halteres (small knobbed appendages found as a pair in some two winged insects) are a light yellow colour. The legs are yellowish brown to brown with dark rings. The feet (tarsi) are whitish. | | |
| | | Conops flavipes have a life expectancy of 3 - 4 months. Their preferred habitats are open areas with sufficient and varied vegetation. This includes meadows, dry grasslands or roadsides. | | |
| | | Conops flavipes are active during the day and can be observed on flowering plants from June to August in Central Europe, where they feed on pollen and nectar. Their preferred food plants include field scabious (Knautia arvensis), oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) and common daisy (Bellis perennis). The flies are sexually mature after reaching adulthood and mate in April or May. | | |
| | | Fertilized females lay their eggs in flight, on sedentary or slow-flying hosts (bees, bumble bees or wasps). The larvae hatch and burrow into the abdomen of their host animals and feed on their insides until they are completely empty. They pupate and overwinter in the empty skin of the host. During the following spring, 8 - 10 months after hatching from their eggs, the adult flies emerge from the pupae. | | |
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| | | Description of images / photos | | 1. | Conops flavipes |
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| Frequent Queries: | | Conops flavipes (10) | | Conops Conops flavipes (1) | | thick headed flies (1) | | Conops Flies (1) | | | |
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