Microdon mutabilis

Microdon mutabilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Clade:	Pancrustacea
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Syrphidae
Genus:	Microdon
Species:	M. mutabilis
Binomial name
Microdon mutabilis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Microdon rhenanus Andries, 1912 Microdon scutellatus Schummel, 1842 Aphritis auropubescens Latreille, 1895 Mulio apiarius Fabricius, 1805 Microdon apiformis De Geer, 1776 Musca apiformis De Geer, 1776 Musca mutabilis Linnaeus, 1758

Microdon mutabilis is a species of hoverfly. It is found in many parts of Britain and Europe, though it is quite rare and even listed as endangered in some countries. The distinctive almost slug-like larvae live in ants' nests. They are hemispherical in shape, heavily armoured and believed to prey on the eggs and larvae of a number of ant species, including Formica lemani, Formica fusca, Lasius niger and Myrmica ruginodis. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.