Allotrichoma lateralis
Taxonomy
This page represents the following TreeOfLife-200M taxonomic path.[1]
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Diptera
- Family: Ephydridae
- Genus: Allotrichoma
- Species: Allotrichoma lateralis
Visual Description
Based on examination of preserved museum specimens, Allotrichoma lateralis is a small fly characteristic of the family Ephydridae.[1] The specimens appear dark-bodied and are typically mounted on small triangular paper points.[1] Due to the small size of the specimens and the nature of the photographic documentation, finer morphological details such as wing venation or specific setal patterns are not clearly resolvable.[1]
Distribution and Habitat
Allotrichoma lateralis is widely distributed, being the most common species of its genus in southern Europe.[2] Its range extends through central Europe, with northern records reaching Britain, Germany, and Poland. The species is also widespread across North Africa, the Arabian peninsula, and parts of Central Asia, including Afghanistan, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Adults typically inhabit river ecosystems and, to a lesser extent, inland still-water ecosystems. They prefer areas with little to no vegetation, specifically favoring muddy microhabitats and environments with decaying material.
Taxonomy and Systematics
The species was originally described by H. Loew in 1860 as Hecamede lateralis.[3] Allotrichoma pseudolaterale Raffone, 2001, has been established as a junior synonym of A. lateralis. This synonymization was based on the observation of morphological variation in tarsal coloration and the appearance of the elongated cercus.
Gallery
References
- 1 2 3 4 Dataset view for Animalia / Arthropoda / Insecta / Diptera / Ephydridae / Allotrichoma / lateralis constructed from imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M records under this taxonomic path. Hugging Face Datasets. https://huggingface.co/datasets/imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M.
- ↑ J. H. Stuke. Faunistic and taxonomic remarks on European Allotrichoma Becker, 1896 (Diptera: Ephydridae) with the description of a new species from Georgia. Euroasian Entomological Journal. 2022. https://doi.org/10.15298/rusentj.31.3.12.
- ↑ Allotrichoma lateralis (Loew, 1860). GBIF. https://www.gbif.org/species/1618962. Accessed 2026-07-15.