Thyreophora cynophila (Panzer, 1798)

Azemar, Frederic, Cazaban, Frederic & Pelozuelo, Laurent, 2020, Breaking the silence: how shedding light on the bone-skipper fly Thyreophora cynophila (Diptera: Piophilidae) demonstrated it still has a large distribution area in the Pyrenees mountains, France, Biodiversity Data Journal 8, pp. 54868-54868 : 54868

Thyreophora cynophila (Panzer, 1798)

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: individualCount: ≥ 20; lifeStage: adult; behavior: On deer carcass, Cervuselaphus; Taxon: scientificName: Thyreophoracynophila; acceptedNameUsage: Mouche gypaète, Mouche à tête orange, Thyréophore cynophile; order: Diptera; family: Piophilidae; genus: Thyreophora; specificEpithet: cynophila; scientificNameAuthorship: (Panzer, 1798); Location: continent: Europe; country: France; stateProvince: Occitanie; county: Pyrénées-Orientales; municipality: Angoustrine; verbatimElevation: 1476 m; verbatimCoordinates: 1°58'0.95" E 42°29'25.93" N; verbatimCoordinateSystem: decimal degrees; decimalLatitude: 42.490536; decimalLongitude: 1.966931; Identification: identifiedBy: L.Vallverdu; Event: samplingProtocol: Opportunistic sight Type status: Other material. Occurrence: individualCount: 1; lifeStage: adult; behavior: On semi-fera basque poney carcass, Equuscaballus; Taxon: scientificName: Thyreophoracynophila; acceptedNameUsage: Mouche gypaète, Mouche à tête orange, Thyréophore cynophile; order: Diptera; family: Piophilidae; genus: Thyreophora; specificEpithet: cynophila; scientificNameAuthorship: (Panzer, 1798); Location: continent: Europe; country: France; stateProvince: Nouvelle-Aquitaine; county: Pyrénées-Atlantiques; municipality: Espelette; verbatimElevation: 482 m; verbatimCoordinates: 1°28'15.074" W 43°18'28.33" N; verbatimCoordinateSystem: decimal degrees; decimalLatitude: 43.307868; decimalLongitude: -1.470854; Identification: identifiedBy: F. Cazaban; Event: samplingProtocol: Opportunistic sight Type status: Other material. Occurrence: individualCount: ≥ 4; lifeStage: adult; behavior: On sheep carcass, Ovisaries; Taxon: scientificName: Thyreophoracynophila; acceptedNameUsage: Mouche gypaète, Mouche à tête orange, Thyréophore cynophile; order: Diptera; family: Piophilidae; genus: Thyreophora; specificEpithet: cynophila; scientificNameAuthorship: (Panzer, 1798); Location: continent: Europe; country: France; stateProvince: Occitanie; county: Aričge; municipality: Unac; verbatimElevation: 616 m; verbatimCoordinates: 1°46'23,31" E 42°45'19,20" N; verbatimCoordinateSystem: decimal degrees; decimalLatitude: 42.7553333; decimalLongitude: 1.773142; Identification: identifiedBy: P. Guiton; Event: samplingProtocol: Opportunistic sight Type status: Other material. Occurrence: individualCount: ≥ 8; lifeStage: adult; behavior: On doe carcass, Cervuselaphus; Taxon: scientificName: Thyreophoracynophila; acceptedNameUsage: Mouche gypaète, Mouche à tête orange, Thyréophore cynophile; order: Diptera; family: Piophilidae; genus: Thyreophora; specificEpithet: cynophila; scientificNameAuthorship: (Panzer, 1798); Location: continent: Europe; country: France; stateProvince: Occitanie; county: Pyrénées-Orientales; municipality: Angoustrine; verbatimElevation: 1885 m; verbatimCoordinates: 1°57'46" E 42°31'17 N; verbatimCoordinateSystem: decimal degrees; decimalLatitude: 42.516667; decimalLongitude: 1.95; Identification: identifiedBy: F.Caminade; Event: samplingProtocol: Opportunistic sight Type status: Other material. Occurrence: individualCount: 4; lifeStage: adult; behavior: On sheep carcass, Ovisaries; Taxon: scientificName: Thyreophoracynophila; acceptedNameUsage: Mouche gypaète, Mouche à tête orange, Thyréophore cynophile; order: Diptera; family: Piophilidae; genus: Thyreophora; specificEpithet: cynophila; scientificNameAuthorship: (Panzer, 1798); Location: continent: Europe; country: France; stateProvince: Occitanie; county: Aričge; municipality: Ustou; verbatimElevation: 873 m; verbatimCoordinates: 1°16'20,89" E 42°48'27,17"N; verbatimCoordinateSystem: decimal degrees; decimalLatitude: 42.807546; decimalLongitude: 1.27247; Identification: identifiedBy: X. Rozec, A. Pialot, L. Coutu; Event: samplingProtocol: Opportunistic sight Type status: Other material. Occurrence: individualCount: 1; lifeStage: adult; behavior: Dead. On Pyrenean chamois carcass, Rupicaprapyrenaica; Taxon: scientificName: Thyreophoracynophila; acceptedNameUsage: Mouche gypaète, Mouche à tête orange, Thyréophore cynophile; order: Diptera; family: Piophilidae; genus: Thyreophora; specificEpithet: cynophila; scientificNameAuthorship: (Panzer, 1798); Location: continent: Europe; country: France; stateProvince: Occitanie; county: Hautes-Pyrénées; municipality: Bagnères-de-Bigorre; verbatimElevation: 1965 m; verbatimCoordinates: 0°12'5,59" E 42°53'56,01" N; verbatimCoordinateSystem: decimal degrees; decimalLatitude: 42.898891; decimalLongitude: 0.201553; Identification: identifiedBy: M. and O. Taburet, M. Marlas; Event: samplingProtocol: Opportunistic sight Type status: Other material. Occurrence: individualCount: ≥ 3; lifeStage: adult; behavior: On Mediterranean wild sheep, Ovisgmelinimusimon x Ovis sp.; Taxon: scientificName: Thyreophoracynophila; acceptedNameUsage: Mouche gypaète, Mouche à tête orange, Thyréophore cynophile; order: Diptera; family: Piophilidae; genus: Thyreophora; specificEpithet: cynophila; scientificNameAuthorship: (Panzer, 1798); Location: continent: Europe; country: France; stateProvince: Occitanie; county: Pyrénées-Orientales; municipality: Sansa; Identification: identifiedBy: A. Chapuis, L. Gayral; Event: samplingProtocol: Opportunistic sight

Description

Thyreophora cynophila is a mid-size fly (around 1 cm long) with a shiny black or dark-blue body and legs (Fig. 2 ). Its orange head is its most characteristic and eye-catching morphological trait. Thyreophora cynophila also has a long scutellum prolonged by two long hairs (Fig. 2 B and D), a trait shared with other Piophilid flies, such as Centrophlebomyia sp. ( Mei et al. 2013). Males have enlarged hind-legs.

Figures

Figure 2. Thyreophora cynophila and its habitat. (A) & (B): Pyrenean chamois carcass and dorsal view of a T. cynophila individual found dead, probably due to low nocturnal temperature in Bagneres-de-Bigorre (Hautes-Pyrenees, France). Picture by Martin Taburet. (C) & (D) Sheep carcass and T. cynophila observed in Unac (Ariege, France). Picture by Pierre Guiton. (E) & (F). Cow carcass and T. cynophila observed in Sandinies (Huesca, Spain). Picture by Laurent Pelozuelo.