Abstract
The genus Dohrniphora is a hyperdiverse group of phorid flies, a family whose species are commonly characterized as generalized scavengers. The lifestyle of most species of Dohrniphora is unknown, although one cosmopolitan, synanthropic species, D. cornuta (Bigot) fits the general scavenger mold. Here we show that flies of the D. longirostrata species group exhibit highly specific “headhunting” behavior in which injured Odontomachus ants are decapitated, the heads dragged away, and females either feed on their contents or lay an egg nearby. Since most females studied lacked eggs in their ovaries, we conclude that this bizarrely specialized feeding is necessary to provide nutrients for reproduction in these flies. Our study provides further evidence that injured ants are a common, stable resource in tropical ecosystems that support a wide array of phorid flies. Such narrowly constrained lifestyles, as exemplified by exclusively feeding on and breeding in the head contents of certain ponerine worker ants, could allow the co-existence of a huge community of saprophagous flies.
Highlights
The Phoridae are a family of over 4,000 species of small (0.4-6.0 mm) poorly-known flies, with an incredible diversity of lifestyles. Disney (1990) referred to them as the most biologically diverse family of insects, because their larvae indulge in such wide-ranging feeding habits as herbivory, predation, scavenging, and parasitism
Instead of decapitation caused by larval feeding, as in metopinines, our observation involves the activity of the adult female phorid of a different subfamily (Phorinae)
The description of this lifestyle is based on earlier observations by us (Kung and Brown 2005) on females of the D. longirostrata group of species of the genus Dohrniphora Dahl
Summary
The Phoridae are a family of over 4,000 species of small (0.4-6.0 mm) poorly-known flies, with an incredible diversity of lifestyles. Disney (1990) referred to them as the most biologically diverse family of insects, because their larvae indulge in such wide-ranging feeding habits as herbivory, predation, scavenging, and parasitism. Instead of decapitation caused by larval feeding, as in metopinines, our observation involves the activity of the adult female phorid of a different subfamily (Phorinae). The description of this lifestyle is based on earlier observations by us (Kung and Brown 2005) on females of the D. longirostrata group of species of the genus Dohrniphora Dahl. This group, consisting of 7 species (Brown 2008, Kung and Brown 2005) occurs only in the Neotropical Region. The research described was to further investigate and document this extraordinary interaction
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