Genus: Microdon

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Ecdysozoa > Panarthropoda > Tritocerebra > Phylum: Arthopoda > Mandibulata > Atelocerata > Panhexapoda > Hexapoda > Insecta (insects) > Dicondyla > Pterygota > Metapterygota > Neoptera > Eumetabola > Holometabola > Panorpida > Antliophora > Diptera (flies) > Brachycera > Muscomorpha > Eremoneura > Cyclorrapha > Aschiza > Syrphoidea > Family: Syrphidae (hoverflies) > Subfamily: Microdontinae

The larvae eat ant brood and live in ant nests. There are approximately 56 Afrotropical species in Microdon of which 15 are known from southern Africa (Andrew Whittington pers. comm.).

The following photographs were taken by Simon van Noort of puparia and adults (probably of Microdon nigrocyaneus) found in a Technomyrmex pallipes ant nest inside a VCR in a home in Cape Town.

Adult	Adult
Dorsal view of adult specimen	Dorsal view of head.
Lateral view.
Wing
Dorsal view of puparium	Lateral view of puparium