Cocoon Mimicry and Predation by Myrmecophilous Diptera (Diptera: Syrphidae)

Garnett, William; Akre, Roger D.; Sehlke, G.

doi:10.2307/3494863

Cited by 25 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…In contrast, Duffield (1981) records that 1 st instar larvae of M. fuscipennis were often detected by workers of their host ant, Iridomyrmex pruinosus (Wheeler, 1913) and carried out of the colony. Garnett et al (1985) records that in three North American species of Microdon (M. albicomatus Novak, 1977, M. cothurnatus Bigot, 1884, and M. piperi Knab, 1917) the host ants actively transport 1 st and the 2 nd instar larvae into the deeper parts of the nest, as well as from one brood chamber to another, suggesting that these Microdon larvae are well integrated with their host colony and use either chemical camouflage or mimicry.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle and growth pattern of the endangered myrmecophilous Microdon myrmicae (Diptera: Syrphidae)

Witek¹,

Canterino²,

Balletto³

et al. 2012

Eur. J. Entomol.

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Abstract. In Europe there are only a few species of the syrphid fly Microdon, which live in the nests of various genera of ants. For most of these rare flies, details of their biology, larval behaviour and relationships with their hosts are still not yet well known. In this paper we present data on the life cycle, feeding behaviour and growth pattern of Microdon myrmicae, a social parasite of Myrmica ants and compare it with two species of Maculinea butterflies similarly parasitizing Myrmica ant colonies. M. myrmicae has three larval instars and overwinters as a third instar. Eggs and 1 st instar larvae are ignored by ants, which indicate that they are "chemically insignificant". 2 nd and 3 rd instar larvae feed on small ant brood. M. myrmicae larvae grow rapidly from May to July and later in the year the host colony only serves as shelter for overwintering. Like Maculinea alcon, larvae of M. myrmicae are numerous in Myrmica nests and more numerous than those of Maculinea teleius. Since the larvae of Microdon feed on an abundance of young ant brood, they experience low level of scramble competition and although many may develop in an ant's nest they have probably little effect on host colony fitness.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle and growth pattern of the endangered myrmecophilous Microdon myrmicae (Diptera: Syrphidae)

Witek¹,

Canterino²,

Balletto³

et al. 2012

Eur. J. Entomol.

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“…Several authors have suggested that they live as scavengers or feed on pellets of food ejected by the worker ants [2][3][4][5]. More recently, however, accumulated evidence showed that larvae of at least a number of species of Microdon Meigen and Omegasyrphus Giglio-Tos are predators, feeding on eggs, larvae, and pupae of ants [6][7][8][9][10]. There are a few reports of Microdontinae larvae feeding on aphids and coccids attended by ants [11][12][13], but these could so far not be confirmed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review and Phylogenetic Evaluation of Associations between Microdontinae (Diptera: Syrphidae) and Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Reemer

2013

Psyche: A Journal of Entomology

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The immature stages of hoverflies of the subfamily Microdontinae (Diptera: Syrphidae) develop in ant nests, as predators of the ant brood. The present paper reviews published and unpublished records of associations of Microdontinae with ants, in order to discuss the following questions.(1) Are all Microdontinae associated with ants? (2) Are Microdontinae associated with all ants? (3) Are particular clades of Microdontinae associated with particular clades of ants? (4) Are Microdontinae associated with other insects? A total number of 109 associations between the groups are evaluated, relating to 43 species of Microdontinae belonging to 14 genera, and to at least 69 species of ants belonging to 24 genera and five subfamilies. The taxa of Microdontinae found in association with ants occur scattered throughout their phylogenetic tree. One of the supposedly most basal taxa (Mixogaster) is associated with ants, suggesting that associations with ants evolved early in the history of the subfamily and have remained a predominant feature of their lifestyle. Among ants, associations with Microdontinae are known from subfamilies Ponerinae, Dolichoderinae, Formicinae, Myrmicinae, and Pseudomyrmecinae. These subfamilies comprise more than 95% of all ant species. Interestingly, no associations are known with "dorylomorph" ants (army ants and relatives).

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“…Thus, it is obvious that these larvae had fed on some food source sufficient for them to grow into adults before we had collected them. It has been reported that larval microdontines prey on ant eggs, larvae and pupae (Van Pelt and Van Pelt 1972, Duffield 1981, Garnett et al 1985, Reemer 2013, Pérez-Lachaud et al 2014). Others have suggested that the larvae of certain Microdontinae feed on refuse or pellets of food ejected by ants (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several papers reported that larvae of some microdontine species prey on ant eggs, larvae, and pupae (Van Pelt and Van Pelt 1972, Duffield 1981, Garnett et al 1985, Reemer 2013, Pérez-Lachaud et al 2014). At present, 454 microdontine species have been recorded (Reemer and Stahls 2013), and host species for 49 of them have been confirmed as myrmecophilous (Maruyama et al 2013, Reemer 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rearing and observation of immature stages of the hoverfly Microdon katsurai (Diptera, Syrphidae)

Iwai

Horikawa

Arakawa

et al. 2016

BDJ

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BackgroundThe hoverfly Microdon (Chymophila) katsurai Maruyama et Hironaga 2004 was speculated to be a myrmecophilous species associated with the ant Polyrhachis lamellidens based on observations of adults near the ant nest. However, there have been no reports regarding the observation of immature stages of this species in association with P. lamellidens.New informationFor the first time, we found three M. katsurai larvae inside a P. lamellidens nest and conducted rearing experiments on the larval M. katsurai. P. lamellidens workers did not show any inspection or attack behavior against the M. katsurai larvae under rearing conditions, suggesting that M. katsurai larvae can survive inside a P. lamellidens nest. Although no predatory behavior by the M. katsurai larvae was observed, all the M. katsurai larvae pupated and emerged in a rearing environment. The dorsal surface of the larval M. katsurai has a distinct pale green color with a uniform reticular structure. The puparium of M. katsurai shows several morphological features that are characteristic of the subgenus Chymophila. We conclude that M. katsurai is likely a myrmecophilous species that utilizes P. lamellidens as a specific host and that classification of M. katsurai based on puparium morphology is concordant with that based on adult morphology.

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Cocoon Mimicry and Predation by Myrmecophilous Diptera (Diptera: Syrphidae)

Cited by 25 publications

References 6 publications

Life cycle and growth pattern of the endangered myrmecophilous Microdon myrmicae (Diptera: Syrphidae)

Life cycle and growth pattern of the endangered myrmecophilous Microdon myrmicae (Diptera: Syrphidae)

Review and Phylogenetic Evaluation of Associations between Microdontinae (Diptera: Syrphidae) and Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Rearing and observation of immature stages of the hoverfly Microdon katsurai (Diptera, Syrphidae)

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