Reduced-morphology

Guides

• Microdontinae

  Ant Flies and Allies

  A subfamily of hoverflies (Syrphidae) comprising approximately 400 species, distinguished by their obligate myrmecophilous lifestyle. Larvae develop within ant nests as predators or scavengers of ant brood, exhibiting reduced body segmentation compared to other syrphid larvae. Adults of many species remain near host ant colonies rather than visiting flowers; some species lack functional mouthparts entirely. Several genera lack the spurious vein characteristic of other Syrphidae.

  myrmecophilymimicryHymenoptera-mimicryant-parasitoidlarval-predatorreduced-morphologyspurious-vein-absenceobligate-symbiosis

• Pseudachorutinae

  Pseudachorutinae is a subfamily of springtails (Collembola) within the family Neanuridae, established by Börner in 1906. The subfamily contains over 50 genera and 200 described species distributed across tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, including the Caribbean, Central and South America, Asia, and the Russian Far East. Members are typically small (<1.0 mm), unpigmented springtails with reduced appendages and simplified body structures.

  springtailsCollembolasoil-faunaleaf-littertropical-forestreduced-morphologyunpigmented