S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 59. (Budapest, 1998)

ROVARTANI KÖZLEMÉNYEK LIX 1998 pp. 113-114 Observations on the European Stalk-Eyed Fly Sphyr-acephala europaea Papp et Földvári, 1997 (Diptera: Diopsidae) P. Paulovics Observations on the European Stalk-Eyed Fly, Sphyracephala europaea Papp et Földvári, 1997 (Diptera: Diopsidae) - Sphyracephala europaea was described by L. Papp and M. Földvári from Szeged, Hungary in 1997. Nothing has been known about the life history of this species until now except the overwintering place and period. This paper presents data on the summer occurrences and distribution of this fly along the Hungarian part of the Maros river as well as observations on the ethology of this unique species. The fly species Sphyracephala europaea (Diopsidae - stalk-eyed flies) was discovered in October of 1996 at a high band of the Maros river near its estuary to the Tisza river at Szeged. Adult specimens assembled here for overwintering in little holes in the wall. The flies were found at the same place next April when they left their hibernating holes. This species is the only known representative of the family Diopsidae in Europe (Papp etal. 1997) There is very little known about the biology and life history of diopsid species (for a review of the literature please see Chapter 61 in the Manual ofNearctic Diptera), moreover, the overwintering place and period are all we know about the life history of Sphyracephala europaea. So we decided to go and look for this fly in summer and try to know more about its distribution and life. We assumed that it is linked to the river somehow so we searched for them by boats along the river-bank. We examined the entire Hungarian section of the Maros river, about 60 kms. On the 28th and 29th of June we stopped at 16 sites and examined the edge of the bank. In contrast to that we experienced in autumn and spring we did not find any fly on the steep parts and high banks except at two sections (10 places altogether) where we did find Sphyracephala specimens on the plain parts. It became clear that the species exists all along the Hungarian part of the Maros river and its distribution is roughly uniform. Here we describe some characteristics of the occurrence of this fly. 1. Sphyracephala europaea prefers plain and sandy parts of the river-bank in summer. This fly avoids the zone covered by mud. Flies were observed always in the wet and sandy zone. This zone normally lies at about 50 cm from the water end extending to about 1.5 m so its width is cca. 1 m on the average. We had never seen any fly walking across a leaf or twig, they also avoid plant covered areas. 2. Owing to shortage in time we could observe little about the behaviour and life history of this species during the trip. What we saw was that the specimens simply walked