Phorid News Issue # 6

Number 6, September 1997
Brian V. Brown, editor

Correct name for Borophaga subsultans

In a recent application to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature that sought to preserve the genus name Borophaga Enderlein, we (Curtis Sabrosky and I) proposed that the Holarctic Region Borophaga species formerly known as B. okellyi retain this name. Henry Disney counterproposed to retain his more recent use of the name Borophagasubsultans for this species. The Commission agreed with Disney on B. subsultans, so please note that this is the confirmed, correct name for the species.

Reference: Opinion 1863. Sphaerocera Latreille, 1804 and Borophaga Enderlein, 1924 (Insecta: Diptera): conserved; Muscasubsultans Linnaeus, 1767: specific name placed on the Official List. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 54: 65-67.

Phorid collecting memories

Here is a note from Hugh Oliver, about some past collecting in New Zealand:

... once in 1968, when I was still pinning everything, I spent a full day up a stream bed on our local 3000' mountain Pirongia, with a sweep net. The rivers are very steep, under flood conditions large quantities of trees and organic matter are washed down, mixing with boulders and gravel. Here in the summer the rotting organic debris and gravel is the home of "Tonnoirina," and the net is always full of them. I guess that the larvae feed on the fungi. That night wading through hundreds of these I almost threw out a small phorid attached by moisture to the side of a tube... it was a Latiborophaga female. I have been back netting and Malaise trapping in the area, and have never seen another...

Complementary collecting techniques

Last issue, I presented some preliminary results on complementary collecting techniques. I received the following response from Sven-Olof Ulefors:

"I would like to tell you what I found while inspecting the catch from one of Steve [Marshall]'s Malaise traps in Luther Marsh, during the better part of one summer. By pressing in moss underneath and around the Malaise trap I obtained fifty specimens of "Megaselia diffusa" (working name); few species are as numerous as this one. However, there was not a single specimen caught by the trap. My own view is that we should use as many different methods as possible."

Update on "Scuttle flies- the Phoridae"

I welcome Brian Brown drawing my attention to two references I had missed (Phorid Newsletter 5:3). As I stated at the start of the Preface (page x), I was well aware that I had probably overlooked some references. The book had to be written during the tenure of part funding for two years only. It was, therefore, a bit of a rushed job. However, I have the entire book on disk and I constantly update it with a view to an eventual second edition.

Since the book was written there have been major updates of the nomenclature and classification of two major groups of interest to phoridologists - fungi and ants. I have, therefore, entirely reorganised the relevant sections to bring them into line with these revisions. Likewise a complete revision of the Termitoxeniinae has been completed by myself and David Kistner. All sections dealing with this subfamily have now been radically overhauled and augmented. However, every chapter also incorporates numerous other amendments and additions.

The keys are constantly evolving. I would welcome specimens (preferably in alcohol) of species that do not key out correctly or that are of additional genera or of hitherto unknown sexes. I have many additional figures. There are figures I would like to add, but without specimens (preferably in alcohol) I have not the means to do so. I urge those who describe new genera or hitherto unknown sexes to indicate which couplet(s) they run to in my keys and how they differ from the genera that run to the same couplet(s). I hope fellow phoridologists find the keys to be useful, for that is what they are for! I will only know that they have been useful when you discover novelties or errors that require amendments to the keys! Likewise with the indexes. Let me know of irritating omissions.

The Ecology chapter is far from satisfactory and it is easy to miss data that are not noted in abstracts. I already have many additional references. I plan a radical rewrite of this chapter in due course.

I will be pleased to provide an updated printout of any section for anyone who is interested. The keys and ecology section, however, are currently both in a state of flux. The keys now have many additional couplets, but as a series of interpolations given letters in place of numbers. I have yet to renumber the entire sequence of numbers, for each key, to restore order.

The prime function of the book is to make life easier for fellow phoridologists and to encourage others to join us in the study of these wonderful flies. It is your book and it is you who can help me to make an eventual second edition even more useful.

- Henry Disney

Updating Disney's book on Phoridae

New genera

The following new genera of phorids, not included in Henry's book, have been described: Achaetophora Disney, 1996, Chaetogodavaria Liu, 1996a, Ctenopleuriphora Liu, 1996b, Haulepta Disney in Disney & Kistner, 1997a and the following Termitoxeniinae described by Disney (in Disney & Kistner, 1997b): Brevrostrophora, Horologiphora, Pronudiphora, Ridiculiphora, Septemineophora, Siluphora and Volvectiphora. Also, Indoxenia Schmitz was synonymized with Ceylonoxenia Schmitz.

References

Disney, R.H.L. (1996) Two new termitophilous Phoridae (Diptera) from Taiwan. Sociobiology, 28, 1-10.

Disney, R.H.L. & Kistner, D.H. (1997a) New species and new host records of Phoridae (Diptera) associated with termites (Isoptera: Termitidae). Sociobiology, 30, 1-33.

Disney, R.H.L. & Kistner, D.H. (1997b) Revision of the Oriental Termitoxeniinae (Diptera: Phoridae). Sociobiology, 29, 3-118.

Liu, G. (1996a) Chaetogodavaria sinica, gen. nov, sp. nov. (Diptera: Phoridae) from China. Entomologist, 115, 14-16.

Liu, G. (1996b) Ctenopleuriphora gen n.: a remarkable new genus of Phoridae (Diptera) from China. European Journal of Entomology, 93, 641-644.
 

Phorid literature for 1995 - update
Here are a few more references from 1995, overlooked in previous lists:

Fowler, H.G., M.A. Pesquero, S. Campiolo, and S.D. Porter. 1995. Seasonal activity of species of Pseudacteon (Diptera: Phoridae) parasitoids of fire ants (Solenopsis saevissima) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Brazil. Cientifica 23:367-71.

Roces, F. and B. Hölldobler. 1995. Vibrational communication between hitchhikers and foragers in leaf-cutting ants (Atta cephalotes). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 37:297-302.

Scheepmaker, J.W.A., F.P. Geels, L.J.L.D. Van Griensven, and P.H. Smits. 1995. Control of the mushroom sciarid (Lycoriella auripila) and the mushroom phorid (Megaselia halterata) by entomopathic nematodes. In Science and cultivation of edible fungi, Vols 1 and 2, ed. T.J. Elliott, 491-98. Rotterdam, Netherlands: A.A. Balkema.

Phorid literature for 1996

The following is all papers I have recorded about (or at least prominently mentioning) phorids. Please inform me of any omissions for future updates.

Adám, L. and L. Papp. 1996. A check-list of the family Phoridae (Diptera) of Hungary. Folia Entomologica Hungarica 57:65-76.

Blades, D.C.A. and C.W. Maier. 1996. A survey of grassland and montane arthropods collected in the southern Okanagan region of British Columbia. Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 93:49-73.

Brown, B.V. 1996a. First record of the genus Plectanocnema Schmitz in North America (Diptera: Phoridae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 98:608-9.

Brown, B.V. 1996b. A further species of Apocephalus, subgenus Mesophora (Diptera: Phoridae) parasitic on stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponinae). Studia dipterologica 3:231-35.

Brown, B.V. 1996c. Preliminary analysis of a host shift: revision of the Neotropical species of Apocephalus, subgenus Mesophora (Diptera: Phoridae). Contributions in Science 462:1-36.

Cumming, M.S. 1996. Behavioural and ecological aspects of nuptial flights of the termitophilous phorids Termitophilomyia zimbraunsi and Mesopathusa modesta (Diptera: Phoridae) in Zimbabwe. Journal of Zoology, London 239:675-90.

Disney, R.H.L. 1996a. The Afrotropical Termitoxenia kistnerorum (Diptera: Phoridae) is a pair of sibling species. Sociobiology 28:11-28.

Disney, R.H.L. 1996b. Continuing the debate relating to the phylogenetic reconstruction of the Phoridae (Diptera). Giornale italiano di Entomologia 7 (1994):103-17.

Disney, R.H.L. 1996c. A key to Neodohrniphora (Diptera: Phoridae), parasites of leaf-cutter ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Natural History 30:1377-89.

Disney, R.H.L. 1996d. A new genus of scuttle fly (Diptera; Phoridae) whose legless, wingless, females mimic ant larvae (Hymenoptera; Formicidae). Sociobiology 27:95-118.

Disney, R.H.L. 1996e. Recognition of a sibling species of Termitophilomyia braunsi (Wasmann, 1900) (Diptera: Phoridae). Giornale italiano di Entomologia 7 (1994):119-22.

Disney, R.H.L. 1996f. Two new termitophilous Phoridae (Diptera) from Taiwan. Sociobiology 28:1-10.

Disney, R.H.L. and W. Chou. 1996. A new species of Megaselia (Diptera: Phoridae) reared from the fungus Termitomyces (Agaricales: Amanitaceae) in Taiwan. Zoological Studies 35:215-19.

Disney, R.H.L. and R.E. Evans. 1996. Further new records of fungus-breeding Phoridae (Diptera). Dipterists Digest 2 (1995):29-30.

Disney, R.H.L., G.X. Li, and J.T. Chao. 1996. The identity of Shiraki's "Termitoxenia formosana" (Diptera: Phoridae). Zoological Studies 35:296-99.

Feener, D.H., Jr., L.F. Jacobs, and J.O. Schmidt. 1996. Specialized parasitoid attracted to a pheromone of ants. Animal Behavior 51:61-66.

Gadau, J. and R.H.L. Disney. 1996. The ant host (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and hitherto unknown female of Menozziola obscuripes (Diptera: Phoridae). Sociobiology 28:177-81.

Gnaspini, P. 1996. Population ecology of Goniosoma spelaeum, a cavernicolous harvestman from south-eastern Brazil. Journal of Zoology, London 239:417-35. [parasitoids listed as "probably phorids"]

Kitching, R.L. 1996. The food web from water-filled treeholes in Kuala-Belalong, Brunei. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 44:405-13.

Liu, G. 1996a. Chaetogodavaria sinica, gen. nov, sp. nov. (Diptera: Phoridae) from China. Entomologist 115:14-16.

Liu, G. 1996b. Ctenopleuriphora gen n.: a remarkable new genus of Phoridae (Diptera) from China. European Journal of Entomology 93:641-44.

Liu, G. and I. Chou. 1996. Taxonomic study on Stichillus Enderlein (Diptera: Phoridae) from China. Entomotaxonomia 18:46-48.

Messner, B., A. Popp, and H. Fries. 1996. Hump-backed flies (Phoridae) and their mass development in the grave fauna. Entomologische Nachrichten und Berichte 40:133-34.

Mohan, S., S. Mohan, and R.H.L. Disney. 1996. A new species of scuttle fly (Diptera: Phoridae) that is a pest of oyster mushrooms (Agaricales: Pleurotaceae) in India. Bulletin of Entomological Research 85 (1995):515-18.

Mostovski, M.B. 1996. A new species of Phoromorph Dipteran (Diptera, Phoromorpha) from the Upper Cretaceous of eastern Siberia. Paleontological Journal 30:436-39. [not a phorid, but of interest to students of higher classification]

Patrican, L.A. and R. Vaidyanathan. 1996. Arthropod succession in rats euthanized with carbon dioxide and sodium pentobarbital. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 103:197-207.

Pesquero, M.A., S. Campiolo, H.G. Fowler, and S.D. Porter. 1996. Diurnal patterns of ovipositional activity in two Pseudacteon fly parasitoids (Diptera: Phoridae) of Solenopsis fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Florida Entomologist 79:455-57.

Prescher, S. and G. Weber. 1996. Zur Kenntnis der Buckelfliegen-Fauna (Diptera: Phoridae) ausgewählter Standorte in Köln- Frühjahraspekt. Decheniana 35:415-21.

Sander, K. 1996. Variants of embryonic patterning mechanisms in insects - Hymenoptera and Diptera. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology 7:573-82.

Scheepmaker, J.W.A., F.P. Geels, L.J.L.D. Van Griensven, and P.H. Smits. 1996. Substrate-dependent larval development and emergence of the mushroom pests Lycoriella auripila and Megaselia halterata. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 79:329-34.

Silveira-Costa, A.J. and P.R.S. Moutinho. 1996. Attracting parasitic phorid flies (Diptera: Phoridae) to injured workers of the giant ant Dinoponera gigantea (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Entomological News 107:93-98.

Simôes, D., F.B. Noll, and R. Zucchi. 1996. Duration of Protopolybia exigua exigua (de Saussure) nests and related aspects as influenced by phorid fly infestation (Vespidae, Polistinae, Epiponini). Sociobiology 28:121-29.

Stringer, I.A.N. and V.B. Meyer-Rochow. 1996. Distribution of flying insects in relation to predacious web-spinning larvae of Neoditomyia farri (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) in a Jamaican cave. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 89:849-57.

Tantawi, T.I., E.M. Elkady, B. Greenberg, and H.A. Elghaffar. 1996. Arthropod succession on exposed rabbit carrion in Alexandria, Egypt. Journal of Medical Entomology 33:566-80.

Triltsch, H. 1996. On the parasitization of the ladybird beetle Coccinella septempunctata L. (Col., Coccinellidae). Zeitschrift für Angewandte Entomologie 120:375-78.

Withers, P. 1996. The Metopina of a Beaujolais garden (Diptera: Phoridae). Bulletin Mensuel de la Société Linneenne de Lyon 65:318-21.

Wolf, K.W. and G. Liu. 1996. Fine structure of the egg shell in two humpbacked flies, Megaselia scalaris and Megaselia spiracularis (Diptera: Phoridae). International Journal of Insect Morphology and Embryology 23:289-94.

Wolf, K.W., A. Mitchell, and G. Liu. 1996. Centromere-like elements in Megaselia spiracularis (Diptera: Phoridae): a fine structure and cytogenetic study. Hereditas 124:203-9.

Worthen, W.B., M.L. Carswell, and D.A. Kelly. 1996. Nested subset structure of larval mycophagous fly assemblages: nestedness in a non-island system. Oecologica 107:257-64.