Mites of the familyMacrochelidae as predators of two species of dung-breeding pest flies

Nine species of macrochelid mites [Macrocheles “glaber” (Müller),M. aestivus Halliday,M. mammifer Berlese,M. peniculatus Berlese,M. robustulus (Berlese),M. merdarius (Berlese),M. peregrinus Krantz,M. eurygaster Krantz,Glyptholaspis confusa (Foà) were tested in the laboratory as predators of 2 species of dung-breeding pest flies (Musca vetustissima Walker,Haematobia irritans exigua de Meijere). The mites varied in their ability to attack the 2 fly species at both egg and larval stages. larger mites were generally more effective predators than the smaller species. The level of predation imposed byM. “glaber” onMusca vetustissima also varied with the developmental stage of both predator and prey.      

Neuromuscular and hormonal control of post-eclosion processes in flies

Flies (exemplified by Sarcophaga bullata) expand after eclosion from the puparium by processes of “pulsing” (slow rhythmical abdominal contractions) and “pumping” of air (fast rhythmical contractions of the cibarial pump). Pulsing and pumping are inhibited if a newly eclosed fly is kept in an enclosed space (sand, a glass tube, an empty puparium). This inhibition no longer applies if such flies are injected with either hemolymph from flies 10–15 min old or cAMP, or are confined at the age of 10 min. This suggests a hormonal control of pulsing and pumping. Pumping alone, without pulsing, occurs in flies treated with certain paralyzing agents like ether, tetrodotoxin, bee venom, or “FlyNap,” or have the connectives in the neck cut or interrupted by cauterization. Application of FlyNap or neck cauterization leads to excessive pumping which results in bloating. Expansion by bloating is confined to the soft membranes, leaving sclerites and wings largely unexpanded. The function of pulsing is probably that of “plasticizing” and stretching the cuticle to make it respond to increased steady pressure by air-pumping. Flies ligated at the proboscis show almost regular pulsing and pumping, but without intake of air, and consequently no expansion. Cuticle (sclerites) and wings, however, become plasticized. Some plasticization occurs even in the absence, or reduction, of pulsing (in a neck-cauterized fly), brought about by a hormonal process. Eclosion from the puparium is also initiated by a hormonal action. Thus, the following processes during fly emergence are controlled by hormones: eclosion proper, pulsing, pumping, plasticization, and tanning. These hormones are separate entities, with the possible exception of the pulsing/pumping hormone(s).     

Adaptive radiation through phenological shift: the importance of the temporal niche in species diversification

Abstract 1. Phenological shift in oviposition in seed predators may be a key factor for adaptive radiation if temporal differences lead to less intense competition. 2. This hypothesis was tested at two sites in the French Alps in three sympatric species of larch cone flies grouped into two phenological groups (early and late) differing in adult emergence and oviposition timing by approximately 2 weeks. The present study assessed the intensity of competition within and between groups by measuring four larval traits. Cone traits were measured, and the impact of early species parasitism on cone development was assessed. 3. The occupation of the central axis of a developing cone by one early larva has a strong detrimental effect on cone growth and seed production. However, there was almost no correlation between the variables measured on the cones and on the larvae, suggesting that the resources available were not limiting. 4. Inter‐group competition had no significant effect on early larvae. In contrast, both inter‐ and intra‐group competition had a significant negative effect on late larvae length (–11% and –16% respectively), dry mass (–8% and –23%), and lipid mass (–15% and –26%). The intensity of competition was stronger among larvae in the same phenological group, which is consistent with the hypothesis that shifts in oviposition promote adaptive radiation in larch cone flies by reducing competition among larvae.     

Six cryptic species on a single species of host plant: morphometric evidence for possible reproductive character displacement

Abstract 1. Diversification of some highly host‐specific herbivorous insects may occur in allopatry, without shifts in host use. Such allopatric divergence may be accelerated by sexual selection operating on courtship displays. Wing size and shape may affect visual and vibrational courtship displays in tephritid fruit flies. Geometric morphometric methods were used to examine wings of six sympatric cryptic species in the neotropical genus Blepharoneura. All six species feed on flowers of the same species of host (Gurania spinulosa), a neotropical vine in the Cucurbitaceae. Three of the fly species court and mate in close proximity on the host. Thus, courtship behaviours could serve as important reproductive isolating mechanisms. Two sets of hypotheses were tested: (i) species differ in wing shape and wing size; and (ii) species are sexually dimorphic in wing size and wing shape. Wing size differed among a few species, but wing shape differed significantly among all six species. Sexual dimorphism in wing size was found in only one species, but sexual dimorphism in wing shape was found in two of the three species known to court on the same host plant. In the two sexually dimorphic species, wing shape differed among males, but not among females. This suggests that selection for reproductive character displacement might accelerate divergence in wing shape.     

Role of saprophagous fly biodiversity in ecological processes and urban ecosystem services

1. Direct consumption of organic matter by the saprophagous larvae provides the ecosystem with a fundamental service by recycling nutrients and reducing exposure to decomposing matter. The present study aimed to assess the functional role of saprophagous flies in the mass loss of different types of decomposing organic matter. 2. Two types of common urban waste were used to measure the role of flies in reducing organic matter: chicken viscera (chicken) and a mixture of flour and uncooked eggs (flour and eggs), representing leftover food. Ten traps baited with each substrate, under field conditions, allowed fly access (exposed to flies) and three traps from each substrate did not (unexposed controls); adult flies entering the traps or emerging from the substrates and substrate mass loss were recorded. 3. Species from Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae, Muscidae, and Fanniidae families were collected mainly in traps baited with chicken, with Phoridae being the most abundant in traps with flour and eggs as bait. A significantly richer (P < 0.05) assemblage of fly species accessed the traps baited with chicken viscera (21 species) compared with those emerging (11 species), whereas similar numbers of species accessed (n = 5) or emerged (n = 1) from traps baited with flour and eggs (average richness accessing 7.97, emerging 2.83). Chicken substrate mass loss and species richness were positively related (r = 0.56, P = 0.001). In traps where richness was larger than 10 species, the substrates were reduced by more than 85% of their initial weight compared with unexposed controls, which lost 30%. Substrate mass loss significantly increased with the abundance of flies (r = 0.73, P < 0.0001). 4. The results of the present study support the functional role of saprophagous species diversity on the decomposition rates of organic matter, reinforcing the negative consequences of loss or gain of species in modified landscapes and for ecosystem function.     

Susceptibility of Queensland fruit fly,Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae), to entomopathogenic nematodes

Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt), is the economically most significant Australian tephritid pest species with a large invasion potential, yet relatively little work on its biological control has been undertaken. Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are of potential interest for control of this fruit fly species as it pupates in the soil. Specifically, the pre-pupal stage of B. tryoni may present a unique window for EPN application, as fully developed larvae drop from infested fruit to the soil for pupation. For the first time, we tested the capacity of three EPN species with different foraging strategies, Steinernema feltiae, Steinernema carpocapsae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, to cause larval and pupal mortality in B. tryoni across a range of EPN concentrations (50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 infective juveniles IJs cm^-2), substrate moisture (10, 15, 20 and 25% w/v) and temperatures (15, 20, 25 and 30 °C). We found that all EPN species tested caused environment and density dependent mortality in the third larval instar while pupae were not affected. Steinernema feltiae caused high mortality across different IJ concentrations and over a wider moisture and temperature range than the other two EPN species. High mortality caused by S. carpocapsae and H. bacteriophora was more limited to high IJ concentrations and a narrower moisture and temperature range. Our findings highlight the potential of EPNs for the control of B. tryoni and warrant further laboratory and field experiments to evaluate their efficacy under the wide environmental conditions that B. tryoni can occur in.     

Comparative real-time kinetic analysis of human complement killing of Leishmania infantum promastigotes derived from axenic culture or from Phlebotomus perniciosus

Although Leishmania metacyclic promastigotes are generally considered resistant to human complement, studies of in vitro-cultured axenic stationary promastigotes using serum concentrations that approximate physiological plasma conditions indicate complement sensitivity. Natural Leishmania infection is caused by sand fly-inoculated promastigotes, whose complement resistance has not been analyzed systematically. We compared Leishmania susceptibility to human complement in L. infantum promastigotes derived from in vitro cultures and from sand flies. Phlebotomus perniciosus sand flies were fed with axenic promastigotes, L. infantum-infected U-937 cells, or spleen cells from L. infantum-infected hamsters. On selected days post-feeding, flies were dissected and promastigotes isolated; in addition, axenic promastigotes were obtained from culture at equivalent days of growth. In near-physiological serum concentration and temperature conditions, measurement of real-time kinetics of propidium iodide uptake showed that 90% of axenic- and sand fly-derived promastigotes were rapidly killed by complement. We found no substantial differences between promastigotes from axenic culture, those isolated from flies on different post-feeding days, or those generated in flies fed with distinct inocula. The results indicate that Leishmania susceptibility to human complement is independent of promastigote developmental stage in the sand fly mid-gut and in axenic culture.