[Syrphidae] Courtship in Platycheirus

christian thompson cthompson@sel.barc.usda.gov
Mon, 23 Oct 2000 07:56:46 -0400


Frank:

You should check the work of William Eberhard, the leading specialist on
sexual selection, behavior, etc., in insects.  He has been using Sepsidae
for one of his experimental groups.  He has shown, for example, there is a
real "lock and key" correlationship between the structure of the male fore
leg and the base of the wing on the female. That is, as the male mounts, it
locks its fore femur and fore tibia onto the base of female wing, and the
bristles, concavities, etc., of the male leg matches the structure of female
wing base, etc. Perhaps if you look closer you may find such correlationship
in Platycheirus.

Bill gave a couple of excellent talks on his work and sepsids at the recent
International Congress of Entomology, but I don't have a precise references.
However, you should just run a check against BIOSIS or ZR.  

Cheers

F. Christian Thompson
Systematic Entomology Lab., ARS, USDA
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D. C. 20560-0169
(202) 382-1800 voice
(202) 786-9422 FAX
cthompso@sel.barc.usda.gov
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