Field and laboratory observations on the substrates of the mushroom fungus gnat Lycoriella auripila (Diptera: Sciaridae)

The movements of Psila rosae larvae were studied under field and laboratory conditions. In the field, larvae moved up to 60 cm along and between carrot rows, although more larvae moved during the first generation than the second. Sudden increases in soil moisture, and not its prevailing level, stimulated the larvae to move from carrots into the soil surrounding the roots. Up to 50% of the larvae that left their mines in carrots following a sudden increase in soil moisture did not return to the same mine. Evacuation of mines by larvae appears to be a reflex response to the flooding of their mine and might be connected with the production of toxic conditions within the mine following flooding.