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Two
winged flies
Within
this family are about 380 species in Iceland.
The Mosquitoes (Culicidae) do not exist in Iceland or the Faroe
Islands, the only countries in the world, where they are not found.
The reason probably is the changeable weather.
Among the most common ones are:
The common house-fly (Musca domestica), The lesser house-fly
(Fannia cannicularis), The crane-fly (Tupulidae), The blow-fly
(Calliphora; at least 4 species), The dung-fly, *the black fly
(Simulidae; 4 species) and **The Chironomid (Chironomidae).
*The
black fly is an American species and the only one, which bites people
and other mammals. Only the
females bite and the bites swell a bit and itch.
The female species of Simulium aureum and Simulium vernum only
bite birds. The Cnephia
ursinum thrives of flowers, as do the males of all the other species.
**The
chironomids are the most common species of lake-oriented insects in
Iceland. Altogether around
50 species have been spotted in Iceland, whereas about 1000 species can
be found on lakes and rivers and in bogs elsewhere in the world.
The most common species in Iceland are:
The Chironnomidae islandicus (about 100.000 larvae have been
estimated per one mē on Lake Myvatn) is a very important link in the
food chain of lake char and brown trout.
The Tanubarsus gracilentus.
The Orthocladiinae is common where there is abundance of algae
and flowers.
Hover-flies
These
flies, Syrphidae, are decorated with various coloured stripes and are
the size of the blow-fly. They
mostly remain close to flowers and can hover like a helicopter. About 30 species have been spotted in Iceland and the most
prominent species is the Cyrphus torvus.
Hymenopterants
About
260 species of are found in Iceland, and most of them are parasitic.
The *bee (Apidae), the **bumble bee (Bombus) and the ***social
wasp (Vespidae).
*The
bee is a very social species; about 80.000 of them occupy one hive.
The majority, females, collects honey.
They require 50 trips for 1 gr., and about 15 million flying
hours to collect one kg. The
males are totally idle. The
most common species, Aphis mellifera, does not exist in Iceland.
Bee breeding has been tried somewhat successfully with Melitta
urbancic.
**The bumblebee.
Three species have been discovered in Iceland. Only one of them has been a permanent species from the time
of settlement (Bombus jonellus), and the remaining two, Bombus hortornum
and Bombus lucorum, were carried by container freighters to the country.
***The
social wasp was not discovered in Iceland until in the seventies.
Three species have been found, two of them of the Vespula Family.
They mostly build their hives in inhabited areas and the
Dolichovespula norvegica is the most common one all over the country.
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