Biology of Thaumatomyia Zenker, 1833 (Diptera, Chloropidae) Frit Flies, Predators of Root Aphids in Middle Asia

Abstract

All the five species of the genus Thaumatomyia Zenker, 1833 present in Middle Asia have predatory larvae feeding on root aphids. Four species of this genus were recorded in the agrobiocenoses of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan: 2 species (Th. sulcifrons and Th. notata) in the rainfed zone of Uzbekistan, and all the 4 species (Th. glabra, Th. rufa, Th. sulcifrons, and Th. notata) in the beet growing regions of Kyrgyzstan. The remaining species Th. hallandica was recorded only in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Adults of Thaumatomyia prefer cereals, alfalfa, sugar beet, umbellifers, and flowering forage herbs. Of the 47 species of root aphids recorded in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, 38 species develop on cultural plants and weed while 9 species occur on wild shrubs, semi-shrubs, and trees. All the Middle Asian Thaumatomyia species are polyphagous; the larvae of Th. glabra feed on 31, Th. rufa on 22, Th. sulcifrons on 35, Th. notata on 27, and Th. hallandica on 13 species of root aphids. The activity of Thaumatomyia larvae is an important factor of control of the sugar-beet root aphid Pemphigus fuscicornis (Koch) and the bean root aphid Smynthurodes betae Westwood in sugar beet crops in Kyrgyzstan. The efficiency of Thaumatomyia larvae as root aphid control agents was much higher in sugar beet crops than in cereal fields within the rainfed agriculture zone of Uzbekistan.