An unusual,but not unexpected,evolutionary step taken by syrphid flies: the first record of true primary parasitoidism of ants by Microdontinae |
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Authors: | Gabriela Pérez‐Lachaud Mark A Jervis Menno Reemer Jean‐Paul Lachaud |
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Institution: | 1. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Conservación de la Biodiversidad, , Quintana Roo, Mexico;2. Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, , Cardiff, CF10 3AX UK;3. Naturalis Biodiversity Center, European Invertebrate Survey, , 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands;4. Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, CNRS‐UMR 5169, Université de Toulouse UPS, , 31062 Toulouse Cedex 09, France |
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Abstract: | Parasitoidism of ants by flies is known only for Phoridae and Tachinidae. We report the first record of a hoverfly (Syrphidae, Microdontinae, Hypselosyrphus) acting as a true primary parasitoid of ants. Previously, larvae of Microdontinae were known only as obligate predators of ant brood. This is also the first host record for any Hypselosyrphus species, the first reliable record of an association between a syrphid fly and a ponerine ant, and the first record of a dipteran parasitoid developing upon the immature stages of ants. We reared adults of Hypselosyrphus trigonus from cocoons of the arboreal ponerine ant, Pachycondyla villosa, nesting in Aechmea bracteata bromeliads in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico, and we succeeded in determining various aspects of the parasitoid's life history. The findings obtained in the present study provide novel insights into the evolutionary transformation and diversification of the feeding habits of microdontine syrphid larvae, from an obligatory, specific predatory association with the ant brood, to parasitoidism of ant prepupae. We also highlight the need for more detailed studies of the interactions of arboreal ants and their parasites. We conclude with an overview of the evolutionary transitions and diversification of larval feeding habits that have taken place within the family Syrphidae. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 111 , 462–472. |
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Keywords: | bromeliad Diptera Formicidae Hypselosyrphus Mexico Pachycondyla villosa parasitoid ponerine |
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