Atrichopogon lucorum
Taxonomy
This page represents the following TreeOfLife-200M taxonomic path.[1]
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Diptera
- Family: Ceratopogonidae
- Genus: Atrichopogon
- Species: Atrichopogon lucorum
Visual Description
Atrichopogon lucorum is a small biting midge. Observations from the TreeOfLife-200M dataset reveal a typical ceratopogonid body plan, characterized by a compact, dark-colored body and relatively large, prominent wings that extend beyond the abdomen.[1] The head is small with large, well-developed compound eyes.[1]
Ecology and Behavior
Atrichopogon lucorum is a member of the family Ceratopogonidae, a group known for canthariphily—an attraction to the defensive compound cantharidin (CTD).[2] Females of some Atrichopogon species are known to feed on the haemolymph of CTD-producing beetles, such as those in the families Meloidae and Oedemeridae, to sequester the compound, which may be used for offspring defense. Males, while possessing reduced biting mouthparts, may also acquire CTD, potentially through the ingestion of exuded beetle haemolymph or the liquid feces of female midges. Additionally, A. lucorum has been observed visiting flowers of the family Orchidaceae.[3]
Gallery
References
- 1 2 3 Dataset view for Animalia / Arthropoda / Insecta / Diptera / Ceratopogonidae / Atrichopogon / lucorum constructed from imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M records under this taxonomic path. Hugging Face Datasets. https://huggingface.co/datasets/imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M.
- ↑ Marco Molfini; Gianluca Nardi; Marta Gwizdalska-Kentzer; Emiliano Mancini; Andrea Di Giulio; Ryszard Szadziewski; Marco Alberto Bologna. Exploring the canthariphilous species of the Tolfa Mountains (Latium, Central Italy): taxonomic diversity, phenology, and putative sources of cantharidin. The European Zoological Journal. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2023.2227655.
- ↑ Atrichopogon lucorum. Global Biotic Interactions. https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/?targetTaxon=Atrichopogon%20lucorum. Accessed 2026-07-14.