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Achias maculipennis (Westwood, 1848)
| Family Name: | Diopsidae |
| Taxonomic Group: | Invertebrates (Fly) |
| Common Name: | Stalk-eyed Fly |
Name
Ecology, Habitat & Location
| Ecological Notes | Several species of stalk-eyed flies occur in Singapore, most of them confined to dense primary forest. Two were actually described from Singapore, the specimens collected by Wallace probably from Bukit Timah where they still occur. Achias is shown only because it is a somewhat more bizarre in appearance though no rarer than the others. Virtually confined to Bukit Timah, each kind is yet more local both in space and time. |
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| Habitats | Forest, Terrestrial |
| Distribution | South-east Asia. |
| Nature Reserves | Bukit Timah Nature Reserve |
Conservation
| Trends & Threats | Forest loss, or rather, critical size of the forest to keep the mosaic of nature intact. |
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| Scientific Interest & Potential Value | For years Achias was common near the bottom of Jungle Fall valley but then seemed to disappear. Later a spot in Fern valley was found to have them. Other species too may be found in one location for a time only to disappear before resurfacing elsewhere. This case is worth citing because a forest is an immensely complex system, one aspect of its structure being a mosaic I both space and time of slowly changing conditions. Many organisms must be able to locate newly emerging aspects of this mosaic structure so that the species can persist. The forest as a whole must be large enough for all stage of this cyclic structure to be represented at any one time if such species are to have long-term survival. His is perhaps one reason why it is so important that nature reserves be above a certain critical size, below which they lose biological diversity at a vastly accelerated rate. |
| Conservation Notes | Refer to Scientific interest and potential value. |
Status
| Singapore Red Data Book Status | Vulnerable (VU) [2008] |
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Photos
References
| References | Davison, G.W.H., Ng, P.K.L. & Ho, H.C (Eds.). 2008. The Singapore Red Data Book (2nd Edition). Singapore: Nature Society (Singapore). 285pp |
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