First record of a parasitoid, Megaselia (M) scalaris (Diptera: Phoridae) of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) from India

Sharanabasappa S Deshmukh,C M Kalleshwaraswamy,Atanu Naskar,K N Sharath,Palam Pradeep,S Kiran

doi:10.1186/s41938-021-00439-w

Sharanabasappa S Deshmukh, C M Kalleshwaraswamy + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41938-021-00439-w

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Abstract

The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), has become a major threat in maize cultivation since its invasion to India in 2018. The humpbacked fly, Megaselia scalaris (Loew) (Diptera: Phoridae), was recorded as a laboratory parasitoid of FAW, for the first time in India. Initially, 30–40 maggots of M. (M) scalaris emerged out from the dead pre-pupa and pupa of laboratory-reared FAW. The fly laid up to 15 eggs on the outer surface of 6th instar larva or pre-pupa of the FAW. The incubation period was 1–2 days. The fly had 3 larval instars which lasted 3–4 days and a pupal period of 10–11 days. The adults survived for 6–7 days.

Highlights

Humpbacked flies or scuttle flies are the swift flying dipteran insects that belong to the family Phoridae
In Mexico, during 2007, natural exploration recorded M. scalaris as a unique parasitoid among the natural enemies documented on fall armyworm (FAW) in Mexico (Ruız-Najera et al 2007)
The parasitoid was recorded for the first time in India from a field population of FAW, collected from Shivamogga district of Karnataka, near a village named Kudurekonda located 14.1365° N and 75.5306° E, during September, 2020

Summary

Introduction

Humpbacked flies or scuttle flies are the swift flying dipteran insects that belong to the family Phoridae. The species of this family like any other detritivores help to degrade the plant and animal matter (Disney 2008). The scuttle fly, Megaselia scalaris (Loew 1866), has been used as a model organism for biological control of insect pests. Its larval stage has been reported earlier as detritivores, facultative parasites, parasitoids, phytophagous, and coprophagous insect (Chakraborty et al 2016). As one of the larval parasitoid infesting late-instar larvae of FAW (Molina et al 2003). In Mexico, during 2007, natural exploration recorded M. scalaris as a unique parasitoid among the natural enemies documented on FAW in Mexico (Ruız-Najera et al 2007)

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