Abstract
BackgroundThe phorid fly Megaselia scalaris (Loew) (Diptera: Phoridae) is an omnivorous species, capable of exploring a large variety of environments and ecological niches. It is known as an important detritivore species with maggots feeding on a variety of food of both animal and plant origin.ResultsThe present study reports M. scalaris as an endoparasitoid attacking colonies of the southern green stink bug Nezara viridula (L.) for the first time. This case of parasitism was observed inside rearing cages of N. viridula at the Plant Protection Research Institute, Dokki, Egypt in August 2020. We firstly identified adult individuals of M. scalaris which were found moving erratically within the cages using relevant identification keys. To verify that N. viridula individuals are parasitized by the same parasitoid and they are not infected with other parasitoids, some of the parasitized bugs were transferred to a separate cage at the same laboratory conditions and the developmental stages of the dipteran parasitoid were observed until the adult emergence.ConclusionThe present investigation revealed that M. scalaris could be included to the recorded parasitoid species of N. viridula, and further studies should be carried out to assess the efficacy of this fly as a biocontrol agent.
Highlights
The phorid fly Megaselia scalaris (Loew) (Diptera: Phoridae) is an omnivorous species, capable of exploring a large variety of environments and ecological niches
This study is based on hundreds of individuals of all developmental stages of M. scalaris found parasitizing the southern green stink bug N. viridula which was reared at the Department of Piercing and Sucking Insects, Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Centre, Dokki, Egypt
Local distribution: According to our observations, El Maghrabi (1998) and museum specimens preserved in Efflatoun Bey’s collection in Cairo University and the Collection of the Ministry of Agriculture in Plant Protection Research Institute, this species was recorded throughout the year from different localities representing all Egyptian ecological zones, as follows: coastal strip (Alexandria, Balteem and Burg El-Arab); lower Nile Valley and Delta (Abu-Ghalib, Abu-Katata, Abu-Rawash, Aga, Ashmoun, Birqash, El-Bustan (Beheira), ElHager, El-Gabal El-Asfar, El-Marg, Gharbieh, Giza, Helwan, Kirdassa, Maadi, Sharkieh, Wardan, Zifta); Eastern Desert (Ismailia, Suez, and Wadi Degla); Western Desert (Bahariya Oasis, Dakhla Oasis, Kharga Oasis, and Wadi El-Natroun); Fayoum (Fayoum City, Kom Osheem, Sennouris, and Tamiya); upper Nile Valley (Assiout, Beni Hussein, Beni Sweif, Edfo, Manfalout, Shandaweil, and Sohag); Sinai (El-Arish); Gebel Elba (Wadi Shallalah)
Summary
The phorid fly Megaselia scalaris (Loew) (Diptera: Phoridae) is an omnivorous species, capable of exploring a large variety of environments and ecological niches It is known as an important detritivore species with maggots feeding on a variety of food of both animal and plant origin. M. scalaris (Loew, 1866) is a cosmopolitan small synanthropic fly (1–6 mm) in the family Phoridae of the order Diptera Members of this family are commonly known as “scuttle flies” because adults erratically move in rapid bursts with short pauses (Costa et al 2007). M. scalaris is an omnivorous species, capable of exploring a large variety of environments and ecological niches It is known as an important detritivore species with larvae (maggots) feeding on a variety of food of both animal and plant origin, and acting as saprophagous, feeding on nourishment from decaying organic matter, sarcophagous, consuming flesh and necrophagous, feeding on corpses or carrion.
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