Visual trapping of theStrobilomyiaspp. (Dipt., Anthomyiidae) flies damaging Siberian larch cones in north‐eastern China

Abstract

The influence of trap position and colour on the response of the flies infesting Siberian larch cones was investigated in 1993 at two sites located in the Da Khinggan Mountains, in north-eastern China. A total of 339 flies were caught. Six Strobilomyia species were identified, and 68.4% of them were females. S. soenssoni Mich. and an undescribed Strobilomyia species were recorded for the first time in China as larch cone pests. Species-and sex-specific responses of flies to trap colour and trap position were observed. For most species, the number of flies alighting on blue traps hung within tree canopy was higher than that caught on yellow and yellow with purple striped traps placed in front of trees. Most flies trapped with blue were sexually-immature females. The temporal succession of the six species and their oviposition patterns were related to the phenology of cone development. Five different types of eggs were also described.U. S

Evolution of Mutualism Between Globeflowers and their Pollinating Flies

“…Evolutionary branching in delay in oviposition might then be considered as a mechanism for sympatric speciation. It is worth noting that anthomyid flies often show this type of resource partitioning based on different floral stages exploited (Roques et al, 1995). Evolutionary branching in delay in oviposition was also evidenced by Law et al (2001) in a model describing the coevolution of phenology in a host and seedeater insect.…”

A review of pest surveillance techniques for detecting quarantine pests in Europe

“…A horizontal fluorescent yellow plate, acting as a nutritional (flower)-type stimulus, combined with a vertical plate coloured in fluorescent yellow with purple vertical stripes, mimicking the contrast between cones and foliage, efficiently traps males of the European larch cone flies (Roques, 1986b;Da Ros, 1997;Olenici et al, 2001). Sexually immature females of six Asian species of larch and spruce cone flies are trapped in signficant numbers by deep blue cups hanging upside down about 2 m above ground level (Roques et al, 1995;Yan et al, 1997Yan et al, , 2002. Blue cups are similarly efficient in trapping immature females of a North American larch cone fly, S. laricis (Chau, 1993) as well as European larch cone flies (Roques, unpublished data).…”

“…Visual traps have been used in monitoring programmes in Europe (Jenkins & Roques, 1993;Olenici et al, 2001), North-Eastern China (Roques et al, 1995;Yan et al, 1997) and Canada (Chau, 1993). Models have been developed for larch stands in Europe to estimate the level of cone damage to be expected for different cone crop sizes with regard to the number of flies trapped by a set of horizontal and vertical traps (Roques, unpublished data).…”

“…Their larval instars develop exclusively in cones of Pinaceae, where they feed on cone tissues and seeds (Michelsen, 1988). Until the 1980s, precise knowledge of the specific distribution and life cycle of Strobilomyia species was limited by taxonomic uncertainties, but 20 Strobilomyia species have now been recognized (Michelsen, 1988;Roques et al, 1995;Roques et al, 2003;Sachet et al, 2006), of which 12 have been recorded on larch (Larix), 5 on fir (Abies), and 3 on spruce (Picea). The geographical distribution of the genus is large, including boreal forests and alpine regions of the Palearctic and the Neartic, but only three species are native to Europe.…”

Douglas-fir cone gall midges respond to shape and infrared wavelength attributes of host tree branches

“…Cone colour (or cone-foliage contrast) plays a role in host detection by some Diptera and Coleoptera conophytes (Turgeon et al 1994;Roques et al 1995). The western conifer seed bug, Leptoglossus occidentalis Heidemann (Hemiptera: Coreidae), is attracted to IR radiation from cones (Takács et al 2009) and visible light (400-750 nm) (Zahradnik 2012).…”