| pubmed-article:15490759 | pubmed:abstractText | On La Reunion Island (France), two morphological closely related species of stable flies (Diptera: Muscidae), living in the same environment, Stomoxys calcitrans and S. niger, are involved in the transmission of blood parasites to the livestock. To facilitate a rapid identification of both species in the field conditions, we highlighted a diagnostic morphological character not yet described: the length of the maxillary palpus. The study of three populations of S. calcitrans and two populations of S. niger, collected at various elevations, showed that the maxillary palpi of S. niger were significantly longer than in S. calcitrans, independent of sex. This character, easily visible in the field with a simple magnifying glass, has been confirmed on individuals of both species from West Africa. | lld:pubmed |
