120 Years in 120 Objects
Join the KwaZulu-Natal Museum in celebrating the museumโs 120th year of orbiting the sun. Staff and guest curators have chosen one object or item per year of our existence to highlight to the public. Visit the website and our social media platforms regularly to see the latest object and keep an eye out for information about a physical exhibition later this year!
Todayโs Object is from 2001
The Winter Fly by Mandisa Ndlovu, Research Technician in Natural Sciences
As most people have noticed, winter is not a great time for adult insects, they are much more common in summer. There are a variety of reasons for this. In KwaZulu-Natal, colder temperatures and dry weather are the main drivers. Insects donโt disappear in winter, they are still present as eggs, larvae or pupae, we just donโt notice them as much. Some insects have evolved to be active in winter, a tough time for them but a time with little competition, making the activity worthwhile.
Edenophorus hiemalis, a species of Dance fly (Empididae) is one of these oddities. The holotype was collected by Bradley Sinclair in 2001 in the Karkloof (Benvie Farm, KwaZulu-Natal). The Latin name hiemalis meaning โof winterโ, in reference to the season in which the holotype was collected. The specimen is housed in the KZN Museum along with 25 other specimens of the same species.
The Family Empididae is a large group of Diptera consisting of approximately 4300 species. The family has many predatory flies, including a few flower-visiting taxa. Adults inhabit riparian forest and can be found on leaves, tree trunks, aquatic vegetation, or in stream beds and seepage habitats. Some taxa are associated with more open areas such as fields, marshes, coastal zones and beaches. Adults capture various arthropod prey, including small to medium sized Diptera, Homoptera, Hemiptera, Thysanoptera, Lepidoptera, Trichoptera, Hymenoptera, Neuroptera, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Coleoptera, Collembola, and Acari.
Being predators, they not only need to overcome the winter conditions themselves, but also rely on some prey insects being active through winter as well.
Edenophorus hiemalis collected in 2001 (Image by Kirstin Williams)
Edenophorus hiemalis collected in 2001 (Image by Mandisa Ndlovu)