Stichillus Enderlein, 1924

Ament, Danilo César & Brown, Brian Victor, 2025, Phoridae (Diptera) mating behaviour: identification of general patterns, exceptions and the use of sexually dimorphic structures based on vast citizen science data, Journal of Natural History 59 (9 - 12), pp. 739-761 : 750

Stichillus Enderlein (total of 12 photos of seven mating events examined: Figure 5A–D )

In some photos examined, Stichillus is in the standard mating position ( Figure 5A,B ). In other photos, the male is partially under the female wings, touching her abdomen with his foretarsi while the female has the wings angled in a ‘V’ and slightly lifted ( Figure 5C,D ). Males of some species of Stichillus have expanded apical foretarsomeres or even all foretarsomeres expanded laterally, but greatly shortened (eg S. latipes Borgmeier ). This modification is accompanied by an enlarged pulvillus and thin tarsal claws on the apical foretarsomere (as in Brown 1992, figs 12D–F). The photos show this structure in contact with the female abdomen.

Figures

Figure 5. Stichillus mating. A. From Wollongong NSW, Australia (photo credit: © Jeannie, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 DEED). B. From Arroyo Frío, Dominican Republic (photo credit: © Maribel Armenteros, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 DEED). C. From Essex, England, UK (photo credit: © Jon J. Laysell). D. From Bezirk Pankow, Berlin, Germany (photo credit: © Sascha N., licensed under CC BY 4.0 DEED). All photos obtained from iNaturalist (inaturalist.org/observations/), ID numbers: A, 41807845; B, 49760154; C, 92693398; D, 133113900; All photos adapted as described in the ‘Materials and methods’ section.