Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) ➔ Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods) ➔ Class Insecta (Insects) ➔ Order Diptera (True flies) ➔ Family Stratiomyidae (Soldier flies)

Pachygaster atra (Panzer, 1798)

Dark-winged Black

Synonyms and other combinations:

Sargus pachygaster Fallen, 1817 |

  • Pachygaster atra, female 8361
    Pachygaster atra (Panzer, 1798)    Dark-winged Black 
    Pachygaster atra, female
    DE, Chemnitz, Hutholz; 2018-07-03 15:24:56
    Image number: 8361
    female
    DE, Chemnitz, Hutholz
    2018-07-03 15:24:56
  • Pachygaster atra, female 8362
    Pachygaster atra (Panzer, 1798)    Dark-winged Black 
    Pachygaster atra, female
    DE, Chemnitz, Hutholz; 2018-07-05 09:30:50
    Image number: 8362
    female
    DE, Chemnitz, Hutholz
    2018-07-05 09:30:50

Classification:
Pachygaster atra belongs to the subfamily Pachygastrinae.
Distribution:
Europe, Turkey, Israel, Morocco, Ukraine, Russia.
Habitat:
Woodland, forest edges.
Description:
Pachygaster atra is a small, black soldier fly with a compact, broad abdomen and a body length of 2 - 4.5 mm. Its scutellum is small, without spines and much shorter than the head. The basal half of the wings is darkened, also the knob of halteres is dark. All legs are mostly black. The antennae are yellow in the females and black in the males. The eyes are separated in the females and touch in the males.
Similar species
There are some small black species that look similar at first glance. the Yellow-legged Black Pachygaster leachii, the 2nd species of the genus occurring in Germany, has pale wings and light legs, whereby at most the hind legs can have a dark ring.
Biology:
The Dark-winged Black Pachygaster atra flies from June to August.
Larvae of the species were found under the decaying bark of deciduous trees and also in rotting foliage, decaying vegetation and garden compost heaps.

References, further reading, links:
  1. Pape T. & Thompson F.C. (eds) (2017). Systema Dipterorum (version 2.0, Jan 2011). In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 2017 Annual Checklist (Roskov Y., Abucay L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., DeWalt R.E., Decock W., De Wever A., Nieukerken E. van, Zarucchi J., Penev L., eds.). Digital resource at www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2017. Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands. ISSN 2405-884X.
  2. Menno Reemer: Veldtabel wapen- en bastvliegen van Nederland (Diptera: Stratiomyidae & Xylomyidae), EIS Kenniscentrum Insecten, 2014
    Englische Textversion:
    Field Key to the Soldierflies of the Netherlands (Diptera: Stratiomyidae & Xylomyidae) by Menno Reemer, 2014 (Text translated and edited for UK use by Jim Middleton and Martin C. Harvey, 2014)