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Cephalochrysa maxima

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult and wing detail	44KB
Image:	Specimen with wing detail	40KB

General Information

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: RANGE Fiji - Samoa/Tonga - Cooks, Hawai‘i

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land, lowlands; nectar feeder

KEY FEATURES: Small metallic blue/green fly, 9 mm, single pair of wings fold flat over the body at rest; legs cream with dark 'knees'.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Confused with wasps and winged ants.

Enlarged Image of 'Cephalochrysa maxima'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Cephalochrysa maxima Bezzi,1928
SYNONYMS: Microchrysa maxima

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Diptera; STRATIOMYIIDAE

More Information

IDENTIFICATION: Metallic blue/green fly 9 mm. Head - large black eyes meet at the top of the head, antennae short, neck visible. Thorax metallic blue/green, 2 segments visible, hind one stands up slightly and triangular. Wings held flat over body at rest and have a dark mark on the outer margin. Legs yellowish with dark ‘knees’. Abdomen metallic blue/green, twice as long as the thorax, front end narrow forming a waist, pointed tip curled under.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: specimen, 1999 BESO #316, ID J.E.Chainey BMNH 2002 as Cephalochrysa maxima; fieldspecimen+photo, Tupapa on Tree Hibiscus, 6/2005, G.McCormack with ID as Cephalochrysa maxima.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM05a

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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