Delphinia picta

{{short description|Species of picture-winged fly in the family Ulidiidae}} {{Speciesbox |image=Delphinia Picta.jpg |image_caption= |image_alt=Delphinia picta |display_parents=3 |genus=Delphinia |parent_authority=Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830<ref name="Robineau-Desvoidy1830">{{cite journal |last1=Robineau-Desvoidy |first1=André Jean Baptiste |title=Essai sur les myodaires |journal=Mémoires presentés à l'Institut des Sciences, Lettres et Arts, par divers savants et lus dans ses assemblées: Sciences, Mathématiques et Physique |date=1830 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=1–813 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3472165#page/9/mode/1up |accessdate=15 July 2018}}</ref> |species=picta |authority=(Fabricius, 1781)<ref name=ITIS>{{cite web |url=http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2011/details/species/id/8673656 |title=Delphinia picta |year=2011 |editor-last=Bisby |editor-first=F.A. |editor2-last=Roskov |editor2-first=Y.R. |website=Catalogue of Life |location=Reading, UK |language=en |access-date=15 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929072507/http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2011/details/species/id/8673656 |archive-date=29 September 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> |synonyms=*''Camptoneura picta'' Fabricius<ref name=Brimley>{{cite book |last1=Brimley |first1=Clement Samuel |last2=Wray |first2=David Lonzo |year=1938 |chapter=Diptera |title=The insects of North Carolina, being a list of the insects of North Carolina and their close relatives |chapter-url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009663988 |language=en |location=Raleigh, NC |publication-date=1938 |page=381 |access-date=18 August 2017 }}</ref> *''Delphinia thoracica'' Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 *''Musca picta'' Fabricius, 1781<ref name=Weems>{{cite magazine |last1=Weems, Jr. |first1=H.V. |date=May 1970 |title=A Picture-winged Fly, Delphinia Picta (Fabricius) (Diptera: Otitidae) |url=http://www.freshfromflorida.com/content/download/24185/487746/ent096.pdf |department=Division of Plant Industry, Entomology Section |magazine=Entomology Circular |language=en |location=Gainesville, FL |publisher=Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services |publication-date=May 1970 |issue=96 |pages=2 |access-date=15 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019042040/http://www.freshfromflorida.com/content/download/24185/487746/ent096.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> *''Tephritis conica'' Fabricius, 1805 *''Urophora nigriventris'' Macquart, 1855 |synonyms_ref=<ref name=ITIS /><ref name=stone>{{cite book |last1=Stone |first1=Alan |last2=Sabrosky |first2=Curtis W. |last3=Wirth |first3=Willis W. |last4=Foote |first4=Richard H. |last5=Coulson |first5=Jack R. |last6=Steyskal |first6=George C. |date=August 1965 |chapter=Superfamily Tephritoidea |title=A Catalog of the Diptera of America North of Mexico |chapter-url=https://naldc-legacy.nal.usda.gov/naldc/download.xhtml?id=CAT87208336&content=PDF |chapter-format=PDF |series=USDA agriculture handbooks |language=en |volume=276 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture |publication-date=1965 |pages=642, 644 |issn=0065-4612 |oclc=1573294 |access-date=16 August 2017 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> }}

'''''Delphinia picta''''' is a species of picture-winged fly in the family Ulidiidae. The specific name ''picta'' is from Latin and means "painted".<ref name=Borror>{{cite book |last1=Borror |first1=Donald J. |year=1960 |title=Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms |language=en |publisher=Mayfield Publishing Company |publication-date=1960 |isbn=9780874840537 |oclc=650233514 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofword00mayf }}</ref> It is the only species in the monospecific genus '''''Delphinia'''''. It is found in the United States on the East Coast and in the Midwest from Florida to Maine across to Kansas through Minnesota<ref name=stone /><ref name=ITIS /><ref name=Weems /> but also can be found in Mexico<ref name=iNat>{{cite web |url=https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/126848-Delphinia-picta |title=Delphinia picta · iNaturalist.org |author= |date=15 August 2017 |website=iNaturalist.org |publisher=California Academy of Sciences |access-date=18 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822222528/https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/126848-Delphinia-picta |archive-date=22 August 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> and El Salvador.<ref name=central>{{cite journal |last1=Steyskal |first1=George C. |date=17 December 1971 |editor1-last=Marsh |editor1-first=Paul M. |title=Delphinia picta (Fabricius) in Central America-(Diptera-Otitidea) |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16246160 |access-date=17 August 2017 |format=PDF |journal=Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington |language=en |publication-date=17 December 1971 |volume=73 |issue=4 |page=445 |lccn=08018808 |issn=0013-8797 |oclc=1568029 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822222352/http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16246160 |archive-date=22 August 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> It is sometimes mistaken for a species of fruit fly, but ''D. picta'' do not feed on living plant matter, as they are detritivores and eat decaying plant matter.<ref name=stone /><ref name=Weems /><ref name=Foote>{{cite journal |last1=Allen |first1=E. J. |last2=Foote |first2=B. A. |date=17 July 1967 |title=Biology and Immature Stages of Three Species of Otitidae (Diptera) Which Have Saprophagous Larvae |url=https://oup.silverchair-cdn.com/oup/backfile/Content_public/Journal/aesa/60/4/10.1093_aesa_60.4.826/1/aesa60-0826.pdf?Expires=1502991274&Signature=ZHeJyWIHfsOfvXioPpeJrhEchQL4aWGgKCRJ6C9dDquVzixtHi5jVoevY-oVbkeCxo9GUCAnijnXinStBlaC1AFvIo4QQtIXnF-6w4pFvHCus51iQsSBhl-i-Ciaw18~wGP63rN-5Ge4E1kQal8v9MZuv2vMObCegLOPRWmPdP5iRPPq-s~4UEDyUphVCmTusGSbQy3ZpNFLPBZnak7zmx~D~o4IDVGrrjOezN39sWuurtmRWdOAW4t0vr4-MAZsiqm0xQtp5zZlhGgdiVhc1syBVyApic6hKiJJjUN3Wib-6TK52JxI4uOamd55ly0RQ4Ehp~1gSK19ab7vmV5z4Q__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAIUCZBIA4LVPAVW3Q |access-date=16 August 2017 |format=PDF |journal=Annals of the Entomological Society of America |language=en |publication-date=17 July 1967 |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=826–836 |doi=10.1093/aesa/60.4.826 }}</ref> They also have been observed eating fermenting frass from ''Megacyllene robiniae'' on black locust trees.<ref name=Steyskal>{{cite journal |last1=Steyskal |first1=George C. |year=1949 |title=The Dipterous Fauna of Tree Trunks |url=http://milichiidae.info/sites/milichiidae.info/files/Steyskal_1949.pdf |access-date=17 August 2017 |journal=Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters |language=en |publication-date=1949 |volume=35 |pages=121–134 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515214347/http://milichiidae.info/sites/milichiidae.info/files/Steyskal_1949.pdf |archive-date=15 May 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> They can be found almost anywhere there is decaying vegetation: landfills, temperate deciduous forests, swamps, and even shaded fields.<ref name=Foote />

==Description== The best way to identify the species is by the distinct pattern on its wings, which are shiny and dark brown with a hyaline background.<ref name=Weems /> Its body is about 7mm long with a black abdomen and a light brown head, thorax, and legs.<ref name=Weems /> The ovipositor averages 1.27mm long with two dorsal and one ventral prominent pairs of setae, as well as many short setae on both sides.<ref name=Weems /> The tip of the ovipositor also has a slight bend downward.<ref name=Weems />

==Life cycle== Adults raised in the lab usually live less than 40 days, but can live up to 69 days.<ref name=Foote /> Mating takes place in the evening two days after emergence from pupae.<ref name=Foote /> The female will wave her wings gently and a male will respond by flicking his wings before copulation.<ref name=Foote /> Courtship may also include one or both of the partners blowing a bubble from their mouth.<ref name=Foote /> Females will lay up to 500 eggs in decaying herbaceous plant matter, which then hatch into larvae in 4 to 6 days.<ref name=Foote /> Larvae develop through three instar stages and reach pupae in 21–30 days then finish pupating 14–17 days later.<ref name=Foote /> The development is affected by the amount of daylight: ''D. picta'' is a multivoltine species with one generation going from May to July and the other overwintering as mature larvae.<ref name=Foote />

==Ecology== Among the plants it associates with are black locust (''Robinia pseudoacacia''), eastern cottonwood (''Populus deltoides''),<ref name=Steyskal /> and saw palmetto (''Serenoa repens'').<ref name="Serenoa">{{cite journal |last1=Deyrup |first1=Mark |last2=Deyrup |first2=Leif |title=The Diversity of Insects Visiting Flowers of Saw Palmetto (Arecaceae) |journal=Florida Entomologist |language=en |publication-date=September 2012 |volume=95 |issue=3 |pages=711–730 |doi=10.1653/024.095.0322 |issn=0015-4040 |year=2012 |url=http://journals.fcla.edu/flaent/article/view/80387 |access-date=2018-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520050152/http://journals.fcla.edu/flaent/article/view/80387 |archive-date=2018-05-20 |url-status=live |doi-access=free }}</ref> It is prey for wasps, such as ''Crabro monticola''.<ref name=Crabro>{{cite journal |last1=Kurczewski |first1=Frank E |year=2003 |title=Comparative Nesting Behavior of Crabro monticola (Hymenoptera:Sphecidae) |journal=Northeastern Naturalist |language=en |volume=10 |issue=4|page=440 |doi=10.1656/1092-6194(2003)010[0425:CNBOCM]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=86012523 |issn=1092-6194 }}</ref>

==Gallery== {{Gallery |mode=packed |Picture-winged Fly - Delphinia picta, Leesylvania State Park, Woodbridge, Virginia.jpg| |Picture-winged Fly - Delphinia picta, Woodbridge, Va.jpg| |Picture-winged Fly - Delphinia picta, Woodbridge, Virginia - 01.jpg| }} center|thumb|293x293px

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius Category:Otitinae Category:Insects of the United States Category:Insects described in 1781 Category:Detritivores