Word of the day: Mystax
(The word of the day is taken from the Torre Bueno Glossary of Entomology)
Mystax, hair on upper lip; in certain adult Diptera (e.g., Asilidae), a patch of stiff setae above the mouth, on the lower part of the median facial plate, above the vibrissae.
I chose this word because our class saw a lot of robber flies (Asilidae) yesterday. The first thing I thought of, in terms of a distinguishing feature, was their “mustache”. Now I know there is a technical term!
This is the only photo I have taken of an asilid, you can sort of see that the front of its face is fuzzy.
Check out this link for a great side shot of robber fly mystax.
Posted on July 10, 2012, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.
Perhaps your friend could call his blog “Of Mystax and Men.”