More than half of the insects collected on snow in Central Poland were flies (Diptera). Altogether 83 species of Diptera from 27 families were identified, of which 9 families were recorded for the first time. Two thirds of the Diptera belonged to the Mycetophilidae and Trichoceridae, which were also very species-rich. Other families with many species were the Heleomyzidae, Sphaeroceridae and Phoridae.
The peak activity was in the first part of December. Flies were most active on snow when the humidity ranged from 80 to 100%, temperatures between -1 to 5°C and the snow was from 20 to 40 cm deep. The occurrence of Trichoceridae was strictly associated with high humidities, in contrast to Drosophilidae and Heleomyzidae, which were most active at lower humidities. The activity of the flies of the most frequently recorded families was displaced towards either lower (Heleomyzidae and Limoniidae) or higher temperatures (Trichoceridae, Mycetophilidae). In contrast to other families, the supranivean activity of Phoridae was strictly associated with thin snow cover.
The Asian neriid fly genus Telostylus Bigot (Diptera: Neriidae) is revised, including a key and illustrations of its species. Lectotype designations are proposed for four species: Telostylus babiensis de Meijere, T. decemnotatus Hendel, T. remipes (Walker) and T. trilineatus de Meijere. Two new species are described: Telostylus marshalli Sepúlveda & de Carvalho, sp. n., from Sarawak, Malaysia, and T. whitmorei Sepúlveda & de Carvalho, sp. n., from Masbate, Philippines. The morphology of Telostylus binotatus Bigot and T. remipes (Walker) is discussed in order to support their synonymy. Additionally, new country records are provided for four species: Telostylus babiensis de Meijere for Philippines, T. binotatus Bigot for Papua New Guinea, T. inversus Hennig for Malaysia and Indonesia, and T. trilineatus de Meijere for Malaysia and Philippines.
Specific associations between species frequently occur in ecological interactions. The aim of this study was to determine the preferences of anthomyiid flies of the genus Botanophila for particular species of fungi as sites for laying eggs and as food for both larvae and adults. The associations of their eggs, larvae and flies with the stromata of different species of Epichloë fungi infecting 7 species of grass in Poland were analyzed. Scanning electron microscopy of the surface of their eggs and an analysis of the genetic sequences of their mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase (COII) were used to identify the taxa of the flies studied. Three types of eggs were distinguished based on their shape, colour and the presence of dorsal folds and sculpturing on the shells. Tentatively, these eggs were assigned to the following species: B. laterella, B. phrenione, B. dissecta and B. lobata. COII sequences obtained from larvae that hatched from two of the types of eggs formed three distinct clades associated with the reference sequences for Botanophila phrenione, B. lobata (new to the fauna of Poland) and a putative species, “Taxon 1”. Only one of these flies (B. lobata) was restricted to a single species of Epichloë (E. bromicola on Elymus repens); B. phrenione was recorded mainly from E. typhina infecting three different species of grass. The results of this study confirm that there is not a close species specific association between this fungus and this insect., Marlena Lembicz ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The role of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) in the metamorphosis of the central nervous system was investigated by recording feeding, wandering and pupariation behaviour as the measures of hormonal effects on the neural tissues in the flesh fly Neobellieria (Sarcophaga) bullata. The minimum amount of food essential for the commitment to metamorphosis is rather small and constant and the larvae ingest it during the first 4 to12 h of the last instar. Underfed larvae maintain food appetency for a certain time and this period of hunger can be considerably shortened by the application of 20E. Application of 20E also significantly shortens or abolishes the intake of additional food offered to starving larvae. Thus 20E has an effect on neural mechanisms controlling both termination of the period of hunger and suppression of feeding behaviour. Application of 20E at any time during the wandering stage stimulates the precocious onset of pupariation. The central neurons controlling motor patterns of pupariation behaviour are committed to perform properly their programme some 15 h earlier than the larval integument is ready to transform into normal puparium. As a result of this temporal shift of tissue determination, some precociously formed puparia are not properly shaped despite the fact that the larva is exhibiting normal patterns of pupariation behaviour.
Coprophagous insect communities play a critical role in the decomposition of vertebrate dung and provide ecosystem
functions fundamental to modern agriculture. While the ecology of dung beetles is rather well understood, niche differentiation in
coprophagous fl ies is poorly studied. Sepsid fl ies (Diptera: Sepsidae) are a vital part of the European community of coprophages,
with 6–7 widespread species of Sepsis often found co-occurring in the same pasture. To advance our ecological understanding of
the mechanisms that enable species to coexist, we investigated the oviposition preferences and larval performance of 7 common
species of Sepsis in the dung of different large domestic and wild mammals. Substrate preferences and subsequent performance
of larvae in laboratory experiments did not vary greatly. All species did very well on cow dung, the most common substrate in
Central Europe, but also on dung of horse and wild boar. In contrast, fl ies did not prefer or grow well in dung of red and roe deer,
two of the most common wild vertebrates. Thus there were only minor differences among the species tested along the specialistgeneralist (dung) gradient, indicating that differences in the choice of oviposition sites by the adults of the different fl y species
and larval performance do not constitute a major axis of ecological differentiation. Nevertheless, there was a positive correlation
between substrate choice and larval performance indicating the preference of gravid females for particular oviposition sites is
adaptive. We conclude that sepsids are common in Europe because they are well adapted to the dung of herbivorous livestock
rather than wild animals. Nevertheless, specialization on particular types of dung does not defi ne the niche of Sepsis dung fl ies
and hence plays a minor role in mediating their species diversity.
The wing stalk in Diptera is examined, and its structures are re-evaluated and re-interpreted. The non-homology of A2 in Tipulomorpha and "A2" in other Diptera is claimed. Some notes are presented on the higher-level phylogeny of Diptera, especially those concerning Tipulomorpha. The family Trichoceridae is restored among Tipulomorpha, and the Tipulomorpha are re-affirmed as the sister group of the remaining Diptera. The clade Anisopodidae + Culicomorpha + Bibionomorpha is suggested as the sister group of Brachycera.
Understanding the genetic mechanisms of morphological evolution is one of the greatest challenges in evolutionary biology and for such studies sexually dimorphic traits in closely related species are of prime interest. In the Drosophila bipectinata species complex, which consists of four closely related species, namely D. bipectinata, D. parabipectinata, D. malerkotliana and D. pseudoananassae, the pattern of sex combs (a sexually dimorphic trait) is found to be highly diversified. The present investigation documents some unique and new sex comb phenotypes and demarcates intra- and interspecific variations in the sex comb pattern among the four species and their hybrids. There is remarkable similarity in sex comb pattern of D. bipectinata and D. parabipectinata but it differs from that of D. malerkotliana and D. pseudoananassae, which is in consistent with the phylogenetic relationships among the four species traced out by cytological, biochemical and molecular studies. The genetic basis of inheritance of sex comb patterns, its plausible implication with biogeographical distribution of species and the relationship between degree of hybridization and phylogenetic proximity have been addressed.
A review of West Palaearctic species of the genus Eloeophila Rondani, 1856 is presented. Three species are redescribed, viz. E. czernyi (Strobl in Czerny & Strobl, 1909), E. laciniata (Edwards, 1928), and E. pusilla (Kuntze, 1920). A lectotype of the latter is designated. Eloeophila albofascia (Alexander, 1975) is established as a new junior synonym of E. apicata (Loew, 1871). Descriptions are provided of E. bipartita sp. n. (North Italy), E. delmastroi sp. n. (North Italy), E. lucasi sp. n. (South Italy and Sicily), E. maroccana sp. n. (Morocco, Spain), E. martinovskyi sp. n. (South Italy), E. minor sp. n. (Czech Republic, Slovakia), E. pectinistylus sp. n. (Spain), E. punctulata sp. n. [Cyprus, Greece (Crete)], E. sparsipunctum sp. n. (Bulgaria), and E. tigricosta sp. n. (Spain). A key to males of all West Palaearctic species is presented.