Nectarophagous

Guides

Pangoniini
horse flies
Pangoniini is a tribe of horse flies (Tabanidae) within the subfamily Pangoniinae, containing some of the most morphologically primitive members of the family. Species exhibit diverse feeding strategies: some females are haematophagous (blood-feeding) while males and certain species are nectarophagous (nectar-feeding), as determined by mouthpart morphology. The tribe shows progressive evolutionary reduction in female mandibles and structural modifications of antennal and tibial characters. Australian members are predominantly low-flying insects that do not suck blood, contrasting with Chilean species that include both blood-feeding and non-blood-feeding forms.
horse-flies Tabanidae Pangoniinae primitive sexual-dimorphism feeding-plasticity Australia Chile scanning-electron-microscopy mouthpart-morphology micropilosity mandible-reduction antennal-segmentation tibial-spurs low-flying nectarophagous haematophagous Esenbeckia Protodasyapha Veprius Ectenopsis Austroplex Caenoprosopon Therevopangonia