Abstract
The genusMerosargus(Loew) has 142 described species. This great diversity in the genus could be explained by larvae resource-use specialization. However, information on larval habitats is still very scarce. InMerosargusspecies, adult males defend oviposition sites, and this territorial behavior may lead to interspecific competition and make even more important the specialization and niche partitioning to prevent competitive exclusion. This study identified substrate types used as a resource byMerosarguslarvae and investigated the degree of specialization and overlap in resource use by different species at an Atlantic forest remnant in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Every potential resource, especially those with adults in the vicinity, was collected opportunistically from October 2001 to October 2004. In total, 292 individuals from 12Merosargusspecies collected from 21 resource types and 15 plant species were reared in the laboratory. Plant species included herbs, vines, palms, and trees. SixMerosargusspecies were reared from only one resource type, and each resource type was used, on average, by less than twoMerosargusspecies. Thus,Merosargusspecies exhibited a high degree of specialization and small overlap in larval resource selection, which could explain the high local and global diversity of the genus.
Highlights
The family Stratiomyidae occurs in all warm temperate and tropical regions, especially in the wet tropics [1], and includes species with great morphological and habitat use diversity [2].Little is known about Stratiomyidae larval biology in the Neotropical region
A total of 45 samples with Merosargus larvae were collected from 15 plant species, including herbs, vines, palms, and trees and 21 resource types including stems and pseudostems, leaves, fruits, flowers, and inflorescences (Table 1)
Inflorescences of the same plant species were collected in three months
Summary
The family Stratiomyidae (soldier flies) occurs in all warm temperate and tropical regions, especially in the wet tropics [1], and includes species with great morphological and habitat use diversity [2].Little is known about Stratiomyidae larval biology in the Neotropical region. The family Stratiomyidae (soldier flies) occurs in all warm temperate and tropical regions, especially in the wet tropics [1], and includes species with great morphological and habitat use diversity [2]. The larval stages of soldier flies have been extensively studied over the last decade in Brazil, but the studies focused mainly on larval and pupal morphology [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. The genus Merosargus (Loew) is one of the largest in number of species in the family Stratiomyidae. Woodley [2] listed 142 species in the genus, and only two are not Neotropical. The previous revision of the genus is over 40 years old and listed only 109 species [13], the genus needs to be reviewed
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