Abstract
In Europe there are only a few species of the syrphid fly Microdon, which live in the nests of various genera of ants. For most of these rare flies, details of their biology, larval behaviour and relationships with their hosts are still not yet well known. In this paper we present data on the life cycle, feeding behaviour and growth pattern of Microdon myrmicae, a social parasite of Myrmica ants and compare it with two species of Maculinea butterflies similarly parasitizing Myrmica ant colonies. M. myrmicae has three larval instars and overwinters as a third instar. Eggs and 1st instar larvae are ignored by ants, which indicate that they are "chemically insignificant". 2nd and 3rd instar larvae feed on small ant brood. M.myrmicae larvae grow rapidly from May to July and later in the year the host colony only serves as shelter for overwintering. Like Maculinea alcon, larvae of M. myrmicae are numerous in Myrmica nests and more numerous than those of Maculinea teleius. Since the larvae of Microdon feed on an abundance of young ant brood, they experience low level of scramble competition and although many may develop in an ant's nest they have probably little effect on host colony fitness.
Highlights
Numerous arthropods, such as beetles, butterflies and syrphid flies penetrate, inhabit and exploit ant societies (Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990; Thomas et al, 2005)
(3) September 2009: 10 larvae were collected in the field, taken (3) Feeding behaviour and survival of 3rdinstar larvae were to the laboratory, weighed and reared with Myrmica ants until observed in the laboratory and the results were used for spring 2010
We describe the full life cycle of one European species of Microdon and shed some light on the potential effect it has on the fitness of the host-ant colony
Summary
Numerous arthropods, such as beetles, butterflies and syrphid flies penetrate, inhabit and exploit ant societies (Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990; Thomas et al, 2005). In Europe, one of the best-studied systems is that of Maculinea van Eecke 1915, butterflies and their Myrmica Latreille 1804, host ants (Settele & Kühn, 2009) Ants of this genus are exploited by another social parasite, the syrphid fly Microdon myrmicae Schönrogge et al, 2002 (Schönrogge et al, 2002; Bonelli et al, 2011). In this paper we present data on the life cycle, larval growth pattern and the potential influence of M. myrmicae on colonies of its host ant. This information will provide a better insight into the relationships of other European species of Microdon with their hosts
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
