While it has been more than 100 years since any sighting of this insect was reported in France, a forest ranger observed rather unusual flies on the carcass of a wild boar found in the snow, 1700 meters from altitude, in the Ossau valley.
The surprising confirmation was shared by the Pyrenees National Park (Hautes-Pyrénées) on its website. Facebook.
Known as bearded vulture flies; This species, whose scientific name is Thyreophora cynophila, it had been considered extinct since 1836, before its rediscovery in Spain in 2010.
The particular fly was included in the list of extinct species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Characteristics of the Thyreophora cynophila
The bearded vulture flies.
These are the only known orange-headed flies. However, they share this specificity with a bird from the Pyrenees, called the “bone breaker”.
The bearded vulture flies They can be identified by their size, which is usually about 1cm long, and have shiny black or dark blue bodies and legs. To this must be added the “dark spots present in the two transverse veins”, indicates a report by the Aragonese Entomological Society.
Another peculiarity of the bearded vulture flies is that they are mostly active in winter, the cold does not seem to bother their larvae which feed on animal remains that decompose in the snow, according to Explain a spokesperson for Pyrenees National Park.
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As one would expect from such a peculiar species, it has long been called mythical, even by entomologists since until recently it had not been seen in recent history, little is known about its trophic ecology or behavior. This is why the recent observations in France are very important for the knowledge of the species.
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