Manx robber fly

Manx robber fly
File:Machimus cowini.jpg
Machimus cowini on 1979 Isle of Man stamp
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Suborder:	Brachycera
Family:	Asilidae
Genus:	Machimus
Species:	M. cowini
Binomial name
Machimus cowini (Hobby, 1946)

The Manx robber fly, (Template:Lang-la, Template:Lang-gv) is one of the 7,100 species of robber fly or Asilidae known throughout the world, and one of 28 asilids known to the British Isles.

Distribution and habitat

The Manx robber fly was first discovered on the Isle of Man in the 1940s, hence the name 'Manx', meaning from the Isle of Man, although this species has been referred to as the Irish robber fly in “British Soldier Flies and their Allies” (Stubbs & Drake 2001). It was originally thought to be endemic to the Island but has since also been found across the Irish Sea on sand dunes on the east coast of Éire . There are no authenticated records from the United Kingdom. It may also occur sporadically across the European mainland but more study is required to confirm this.

It was first discovered in the ‘curragh’ (willow carr/swamp) habitat in the north of Isle of Man and was recorded there again in the mid 1990s when a pair was caught in a pan trap by Steve Crellin, a local entomologist. Although found in the curragh this pair were probably associated with a man-made sod hedge. Furthermore it is believed that a former locality of the species, on road verges and farmland near the old Ballamona Hospital, just outside Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man, have been unknowingly destroyed by road widening and other ribbon development, as an ecological survey undertaken prior to the building of the new Nobles Hospital failed to locate any specimens despite extensive trapping and surveying. The robber fly still exists at a number of sites throughout the north of the Isle of Man, including The Ayres National Nature Reserve and Manx Wildlife Trust’s reserve at Cronk y Bing where it is probably associated with dry sandy conditions (possibly it's larval habitat) and vegetation such as brambles and gorse which provide perching sites. (This northern bias to recent records may well be due to collector bias rather than a true indication of the robber fly’s distribution on the Isle of Man - [pers. coms. Crellin, 2007].)

Speight noted flourishing colonies existing along the sandy coasts of the north-east Isle of Man .

Taxonomy

The scientific name of the species, Machimus cowini (Hobby, 1946) is named after the entomologist who discovered the species, W. S. Cowin. The scientific name of the species was once Epitriptus cowini however was renamed Machimus cowini after being placed in the genus Machimus.

Conservation

The conservation status of the species is currently unknown, however the Manx Wildlife Trust and Manx National Trust, through the creation of nature reserves have saved the habitat of the robber fly from total destruction.

Miscellaneous

On 1 February 2001 the Isle of Man Post Office issued a 58 pence stamp depicting the Manx robber fly, in the series named 'Bugs and Bees'.

References

Also pers. coms. Steve Crellin