tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905638301320729729.post6603165450834162931..comments2024-01-09T02:15:16.760-08:00Comments on Zoo Volunteer: Quest for the Wild Canary Part 3: InsectsAlanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413237012527210151noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905638301320729729.post-79891596922991112412014-03-16T05:37:28.875-07:002014-03-16T05:37:28.875-07:00I spent a considerable amount of time on Tenerife ...I spent a considerable amount of time on Tenerife recently, searching for the Canary endemic non-biting sand-fly Nemopalpus flavus. This species has no close relatives in contemporary Europe or North Africa, but is very similar to a fossil species found in 44 million years old amber from North Europe (baltic amber). There are also similar species in temperate parts of South Africa and Namibia. Probably the European populations of Nemopalpus spp got extinct during the ice ages, now you have to go to Tenerife to find them. See http://www.diptera.info/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=53975&highlight=nemopalpus&pid=230746#post_230746 for pictures.<br />While I did not collect Nemopalpus, I enjoyed the beautiful cloud forests (mostly laurel), the astonishing volcano succession and the subtropical lowland vegetation.<br />Beautiful landscapes and habitats. I also succeeded in collecting the Tenerife endemic fly Phthiria antiqua and a species of the Macaronesian endemic planthopper genus Cyphopterum which I haven't been able to identify.Gunnarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09160004621405227245noreply@blogger.com