Biology and seasonal incidence of Physocephala (Diptera: Conopidae) on Carpenter Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Studies were conducted to explore the extent of conopid fly infestation in carpenter bee rearing. Conopid flies are larval parasitoids of carpenter bees. The samples were collected from fields, natural nesting sites and artificially domiciled nests. The seasonal incidences of conopid flies in Xylocopa were observed from January 2019 to June 2020. The biology of conopid flies revealed different stages of their life cycle. Two species of conopid fly, Physocephala rufipes and Physocephala scutellata were identified to infect carpenter bees in this region. The total development period of P. rufipes ranged between 130 and 185 days while it was 136–191 days in P. scutellata. Seasonal incidences showed higher infestation during June to August which ranged between 25 and 38% and the infested foragers died after 7–11 days of infestation. A comparative seasonal incidence of P. rufipes and P. scutellata revealed higher infestation in X. tenuiscapa (15.96% and 16.79%) over X. fenestrata 14.29% and 14.66% during 2019 and 2020. The incidence of P. rufipes was higher in both the carpenter bees (64–71.11%) as compared to P. scutellata (28.29–36.93%).The highest incidence of P. rufipes was recorded from Dimapur (29.68%) while P. scutellata infestation was higher in Peren.