Biodiversity of Biting Flies: Implications for Humanity

İncı

Yıldırım

et al. 2014

Biol J Linn Soc Lond

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Organisms with vast distributions often represent geographical mosaics of cryptic species. The black fly Simulium (Wilhelmia) lineatum is among the most widely distributed members of the family Simuliidae, ranging from the British Isles to eastern China. Rather than viewing S. lineatum as a possible aggregate of multiple species, taxonomists have suggested a more inclusive taxon with additional synonyms. Accordingly, S. lineatum is an ideal candidate for testing the hypothesis that a wide geographical distribution signals the presence of more than one species. A cytogenetic approach was used to probe the macrogenome of S. lineatum and other taxa proposed by taxonomists as conspecific. The banding patterns in the polytene chromosomes of 480 larvae from 15 countries across the Palearctic Region revealed 128 rearrangements of the complement. All rearrangements were autosomal and 89% were inversions nonrandomly distributed among species and among chromosome arms. The analyses clarify long-standing confusion over previously proposed names and reveal a longitudinal succession of four species sequentially replacing one another from west to east: Simulium lineatum s.s., Simulium balcanicum, Simulium turgaicum, and Simulium takahasii. Thus, S. turgaicum is recalled from synonymy and the other three species are validated. Within the most-represented species, S. balcanicum, the frequency of inversions follows a longitudinal gradient with a north-south bias; as the distance between the sites increases along this north-west-south-east axis, the similarity of inversion frequencies between sites decreases. Validation of the concept that broadly distributed black flies are composites of structurally similar species provides a framework for guiding discovery of additional biodiversity.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are black flies of the subgenusWilhelmia(Diptera: Simuliidae) multiple species or a single geographical generalist? Insights from the macrogenome

İncı

Yıldırım

et al. 2014

Biol J Linn Soc Lond

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“…The species level is ideal. Fine-scale identification, however, has conventionally been limited because many species of aquatic Diptera are still undescribed, cryptic species are frequent, and a large fraction of aquatic immatures remain unassociated with formally named adults [87]. Of the roughly 1225 Neotropical Ceratopogonidae, only 9% are known as larvae [88].…”

Section: Societal Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological and Societal Services of Aquatic Diptera

Courtney

2019

Insects

More than any other group of macro-organisms, true flies (Diptera) dominate the freshwater environment. Nearly one-third of all flies—roughly 46,000 species—have some developmental connection with an aquatic environment. Their abundance, ubiquity, and diversity of adaptations to the aquatic environment position them as major drivers of ecosystem processes and as sources of products and bioinspiration for the benefit of human society. Larval flies are well represented as ecosystem engineers and keystone species that alter the abiotic and biotic environments through activities such as burrowing, grazing, suspension feeding, and predation. The enormous populations sometimes achieved by aquatic flies can provide the sole or major dietary component for other organisms. Harnessing the services of aquatic Diptera for human benefit depends on the ingenuity of the scientific community. Aquatic flies have played a role as indicators of water quality from the earliest years of bioassessment. They serve as indicators of historical and future ecological and climate change. As predators and herbivores, they can serve as biological control agents. The association of flies with animal carcasses in aquatic environments provides an additional set of tools for forensic science. The extremophilic attributes of numerous species of Diptera offer solutions for human adaptation to harsh terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments. The potential pharmaceutical and industrial applications of the symbiotic microbial community in extremophilic Diptera are better explored than are those of dipteran chemistry. Many flies provide valuable ecological and human services as aquatic immatures, but are also pests and vectors of disease agents as terrestrial adults. The scientific community, thus, is challenged with balancing the benefits and costs of aquatic Diptera, while maintaining sustainable populations as more species face extinction.

“…The potential for conflict between blood‐feeding flies and biodiversity conservation is enormous. Nearly, 14,000 species of flies, most of which are native, feed on vertebrate blood and transmit the agents of wildlife diseases, some with devastating consequences (Adler ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The dilemma of pest suppression in the conservation of endangered species

Barzen

Gray

et al. 2019

Conservation Biology

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In the conservation of endangered species, suppression of a population of one native species to benefit another poses challenges. Examples include predator control and nest parasite reduction. Less obvious is the control of blood‐feeding arthropods. We conducted a case study of the effect of native black flies (Simulium spp.) on reintroduced Whooping Cranes (Grus americana). Our intent was to provide a science‐driven approach for determining the effects of blood‐feeding arthropods on endangered vertebrates and identifying optimal management actions for managers faced with competing objectives. A multiyear experiment demonstrated that black flies reduce nest success in cranes by driving incubating birds off their nests. We used a decision‐analytic approach to develop creative management alternatives and evaluate trade‐offs among competing objectives. We identified 4 management objectives: establish a self‐sustaining crane population, improve crane well‐being, maintain native black flies as functional components of the ecosystem, and minimize costs. We next identified potential management alternatives: do nothing, suppress black flies, force crane renesting to occur after the activity period of black flies, relocate releases of cranes, suppress black flies and relocate releases, or force crane renesting and relocate releases. We then developed predictions on constructed scales of 0 (worst‐performing alternative) to 1 (best‐performing alternative) to indicate how alternative actions performed in terms of management objectives. The optimal action depended on the relative importance of each objective to a decision maker. Only relocating releases was a dominated alternative, indicating that it was not optimal regardless of the relative importance of objectives. A rational decision maker could choose any other management alternative we considered. Recognizing that decisions involve trade‐offs that must be weighed by decision makers is crucial to identifying alternatives that best balance multiple management objectives. Given uncertainty about the population dynamics of blood‐feeding arthropods, an adaptive management approach could offer substantial benefits.