24 New Flower Fly Species Discovered in Central and Southern America

Posted on January 31, 2013

Scientists have discovered 24 new species of flower flies in Central and South America. The researchers spent ten years studying the forests to find the dipetrans belonging to the Quichuana genus. The findings double the number of documented species in the genus. The flies have similar characteristics to bees and wasps.

Maria Angeles Marcos-Garcia, researcher at the Ibero-American Biodiversity Centre (CIBIO) of the University of Alicante and a co-author of study, said in the announcement that the species of the Quichuana genus are "not well known as they live in tropical forest areas where insect studies are scarce."

The findings were published here in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.

INSECTS
FLIES