NEWS
- 28 April | India to Witness Deadliest Event of World History Mega El Nino Click Here →
- 15 April | The 3-Attempt Strategy No One Talks About | How He Scored 420+ in GS Click Here →
- 30 March | The Honest UPSC Talk Nobody Tells You Click Here to see Abhijit Asokan AIR 234 talk →
News: Researchers from Kerala and Tamil Nadu discovered two new, extremely rare ant fly species in India: Metadon ghorpadei and Metadon reemeri.
About Metadon Ghorpadei and Metadon Reemeri
- Metadon ghorpadei and Metadon reemeri are rare ant fly species from India.
- Family: They belong to the subfamily Microdontinae (Syrphidae).
- Metadon ghorpadei was found in the northern ridge forest of Delhi.
- Metadon reemeri was discovered in the Siruvani Hills of the Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu.
- Until now, only six species of the genus Metadon have been reported from India.
- Their larvae live inside ant nests and feed on ant brood, a special behaviour known as myrmecophily, making them difficult to detect.
- Members of microdontinae rarely visit flowers and usually stay near ant nests, which explains their rarity.
- Of the 454 species reported worldwide, only 27 occur in the Indian subcontinent.
