Larvae of Megaselia Róndani, 1856 (Diptera: Phoridae) as parasitoid of Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) and its frugivory on avocado

Thiago S Souza,Vinicius J Fernandes,Thalles P L Pereira,Eurípedes B Menezes,Elen L Aguiar-Menezes,Vinícius S Gazal,André L S Resende

doi:10.37486/2675-1305.ec02020

Thiago S Souza, Vinicius J Fernandes + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.37486/2675-1305.ec02020

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Abstract

The members of the family Phoridae (Insecta: Diptera), whose adults are commonly known as scuttle fly or humpbacked fly, differ widely as to their feeding habits in the larval and adult stages. Dipteran larvae of Megaselia Róndani, 1856 (Diptera: Phoridae) vary considerably in feeding habits. The results of this study confirm the parasitic and frugivorous habits of Megaselia larvae. Megaselia scalaris (Loew, 1866) behaved as primary parasitoid of Isognathus caricae (L., 1758) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) larvae in confinement using cage under laboratory conditions. It is also the first time the frugivorous habit of M. scalaris larvae is recorded in ripe fruits of the avocado tree (Persea americana, Lauraceae) under field conditions.

Highlights

The members of the family Phoridae (Insecta: Diptera), whose adults are commonly known as scuttle fly or humpbacked fly, differ widely as to their feeding habits in the larval and adult stages
Seventeen caterpillars of different instars were brought to the Integrated Center for Pest Management (CIMP)/UFRRJ laboratory and reared in a 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm voile fabric lined cage, using leaves of A. cathartica as food (Fig. 1)
The species M. scalaris had been known to parasitize other species of Sphingidae (Souza et al 2019), to assess whether they can parasitize I. caricae, on May 7, 2015, the immature stages (3 caterpillars and 2 pupae) and one adult of I. caricae were offered to M. scalaris adults obtained from the laboratory rearing kept at CIMP

Summary

Introduction

The members of the family Phoridae (Insecta: Diptera), whose adults are commonly known as scuttle fly or humpbacked fly, differ widely as to their feeding habits in the larval and adult stages. The aims of this study were to report the parasitism of M. scalaris in Isognathus caricae Linnaeus, 1758 (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) and the fruit-feeding behavior of M. scalaris larvae in Persea americana Mill.

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