Thyreophora cynophila fly was discovered in France, this species has been considered extinct since 1836. This has been reported press office Pyrenees National Park.
More than a century and a half later, a bright orange-headed insect, also known as the “vulture”, was first spotted in Spain in 2010. After that, scientist Laurent Pelozuelo from Paul Sabatier Universities in Toulouse decided to study this species on the French side of the Pyrenees.
French naturalists in the Oso Valley (Pyrenees-Atlantiques) used their propensity to lay their eggs on the decomposed bodies of wild animals to find Thyreophora cynophila.
“While examining the carcass of a wild boar lying on the snow at 1700 meters above sea level, the guide-observer noticed flies swirling around the animal. But not just flying! They were Thyreophora cynophila with a bright orange head,” the park said in a statement.
Former researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the University of Copenhagen solveThe fungus Entomophthora mushinai, which infects houseflies, secretes substances that cause males to mate with the corpses of infected females.