Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

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Desmometopa leptometopoides Sabrosky, 1983

This is an African species and is the only species of this genus with broadly flattened hind tibiae. Adults of this species were recently reared from fruit in the Scalesia zone (Los Gemelos) and in the arid urban lowlands (Puerto Ayora) on Santa Cruz (Lehnen et al. unpubl.) (Sinclair, 2023).

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Arthropoda

Class
Insecta

Order
Diptera

Suborder
Brachycera

Family
Milichiidae

Genus
Desmometopa

Species
leptometopoides

Taxon category: Accepted

Origin: Introduced - established

Introduction

Year of first record: 2018

Mode of introduction: Accidental

Introduction Pathway: Contaminant

Subpathway: On habitat material (soil, vegetation)

Introduced status: Naturalized

Invasive status: No data

Distribution

Distribution: Santa Cruz.

References

  • Sinclair, B. J. (2023) An annotated checklist of the Diptera of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador). Zootaxa, 5283, 1-102

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This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Desmometopa leptometopoides", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=25162. Accessed 5 November 2026.