Brian V. Brown

A New Threat to Honey Bees, the Parasitic Phorid Fly Apocephalus borealis

Honey bee colonies are subject to numerous pathogens and parasites. Interaction among multiple pathogens and parasites is the proposed cause for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a syndrome characterized by worker bees abandoning their hive. Here we provide the first documentation that the phorid fly Apocephalus borealis, previously known to parasitize bumble bees, also infects and eventually kills honey bees and may pose an emerging threat to North American apiculture. Parasitized honey bees show hive abandonment behavior, leaving their hives at night and dying shortly thereafter. On average, seven days later up to 13 phorid larvae emerge from each dead bee and pupate away from the bee. Using DNA barcoding, we confirmed that phorids that emerged from honey bees and bumble bees were the same species. Microarray analyses of honey bees from infected hives revealed that these bees are often infected with deformed wing virus and Nosema ceranae. Larvae and adult phorids also tested positive for these pathogens, implicating the fly as a potential vector or reservoir of these honey bee pathogens. Phorid parasitism may affect hive viability since 77% of sites sampled in the San Francisco Bay Area were infected by the fly and microarray analyses detected phorids in commercial hives in South Dakota and Californias Central Valley. Understanding details of phorid infection may shed light on similar hive abandonment behaviors seen in CCD.

Opportunity in our Ignorance: Urban Biodiversity Study Reveals 30 New Species and One New Nearctic Record for Megaselia (Diptera: Phoridae) in Los Angeles (California, USA)

An urban biodiversity study sampling primarily from private backyards in Los Angeles, California (USA), reveals the presence of fifty-six species of Megaselia within the first few months of sampling. Thirty of these are described as new to science: M. armstrongorum, M. bradyi, M. brejchaorum, M. carthayensis, M. ciancii, M. creasoni, M. defibaughorum, M. donahuei, M. francoae, M. fujiokai, M. hardingorum, M. heini, M. hentschkeae, M. hoffmanorum, M. hoggorum, M. hoguei, M. isaacmajorum, M. kelleri, M. lombardorum, M. marquezi, M. mikejohnsoni, M. oxboroughae, M. pisanoi, M. renwickorum, M. rodriguezorum, M. sacatelensis, M. seaverorum, M. sidneyae, M. steptoeae, and M. wiegmanae. M. largifrontalis is newly reported from the Nearctic Region. The implications these findings have for future taxonomic work in Megaselia, particularly in urban areas, are discussed.

A Review of Pseudacteon (Diptera: Phoridae) That Parasitize Ants of the Solenopsis geminata Complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

ABSTRACT Some phorid flies of the genus Pseudacteon Coquillett parasitize workers of Solenopsis geminata (F.) complex fire ants. The group is found to comprise at least 21 species of flies, of which 11 are new to science and described here: P. amuletum, P. andinus, P. annulus, P. catarinae, P. deltoides, P. hippeus, P. kungae, P. laticarinatus, P. palomita, P. quinni, and P. robustus. An identification key to the females is included. This expansion of known Pseudacteon species parasitizing the S. geminata complex makes it an interesting system for comparison with Pseudacteon flies that parasitize fire ants of the S. saevissima (Smith) complex.

RE-EVALUATION OF THE FOSSIL PHORIDAE (DIPTERA)

I re-evaluated the known fossil phorids after re-examining much of the Baltic amber and Dominican amber fauna. Many extant genera reported from Eocene Chinese and Eocene/Oligocene Baltic amber are actually not present; instead there are representatives of relatively primitive stem-group taxa. A new genus and species of fossil phorid, Limulomyia tyche, based on a male and a limuloid female, is described from Baltic amber. Some changes in the taxonomy of amber phorids are proposed: Pseudometopina Disney is synonymized with Metopina Schmitz (new synonymy), Diplonevra meunieri Brues is transferred to the genus Godavaria Brown (new combination), Protophorites fimbriatus Brues is considered a junior subjective synonym of Protoplatyphora tertiaria Brues (new synonymy) and Phalacrotophora tertiara Statz is transferred to the genus Gymnophora (new combination). The oldest confirmed dates for extant phorid genera are given.

Taxonomic revision of Neodohrniphora, subgenus Eibesfeldtphora (Diptera: Phoridae).

The genus Neodohrniphora, subgenus Eibesfeldtphora, is revised and found to include 15 species, 11 of which are new to science, as follows: N. arcuata, bragancai, dissita, elongata, erthali, inferna, isomorpha, leei, pala, prolixa and tonhascai. Subgenus Wallerphora and its single included species, N. mexicanae Disney, is considered part of subgenus Eibesfeldtphora (new synonymy). The taxonomy of N. declinata Borgmeier and a species with which it has frequently been confused is clarified.

Flies, Gnats, and Mosquitoes

The diptera, or true flies, are a well-established, monophyletic group of insects with more than 124,000 extant species. They are found worldwide and interact with the environment at almost all trophic levels as scavengers, filter-feeders, herbivores, predators, parasitoids, and parasites.

The bee-killing flies, genus Melaloncha Brues (Diptera: Phoridae): a combined molecular and morphological phylogeny

The phylogeny of the bee‐killing flies, genus Melaloncha Brues (Diptera: Phoridae) is analysed using six genes –cytochrome oxidase I, 16S ribosomal DNA, 12S ribosomal DNA, NADH1 dehydrogenase, 28S ribosomal DNA and CAD– plus 47 morphological characters. A total of 91 specimens, including eight out‐groups and 83 Melaloncha (representing 70 species) were included in the analyses. Parsimony analysis of the combined data set produced a single most parsimonious tree with varied Bremer and bootstrap support of interior nodes. Bayesian analysis of molecules only and of morphology + molecules produced trees largely in agreement with parsimony results, although with a few differences. Supported groups included subfamily Metopininae, genus Melaloncha, and subgenera Melaloncha s.s. and Melaloncha (Udamochiras) Enderlein. Within the subgenera, the previously recognized Melaloncha furcata, Melaloncha cingulata, Melaloncha ungulata and Melaloncha stylata groups were recovered, as well as some new groupings. The M. furcata group was placed as the sister group of other Melaloncha s.s., which is consistent with known host‐attacking behaviour.

First records of Megaselia scalaris (Loew) and M. spiracularis Schmitz (Diptera: Phoridae) from New Zealand, with additional information on other worldwide species

First records are given for the phorid flies Megaselia scalaris (Loew) and M. spiracularis Schmitz in New Zealand. Both are of potential medical significance, being agents of myiasis elsewhere in the world. Further, more detailed records are given for M. halterata (Wood) and M. rufipes (Meigen) in New Zealand. All of these species are widely distributed throughout the world.

A new type of ant-decapitation in the Phoridae (Insecta: Diptera)

Abstract The genus Dohrniphora is a hyperdiverse group of phorid flies, a family whose species are commonly characterized as generalized scavengers. The lifestyle of most species of Dohrniphora is unknown, although one cosmopolitan, synanthropic species, D. cornuta (Bigot) fits the general scavenger mold. Here we show that flies of the D. longirostrata species group exhibit highly specific “headhunting” behavior in which injured Odontomachus ants are decapitated, the heads dragged away, and females either feed on their contents or lay an egg nearby. Since most females studied lacked eggs in their ovaries, we conclude that this bizarrely specialized feeding is necessary to provide nutrients for reproduction in these flies. Our study provides further evidence that injured ants are a common, stable resource in tropical ecosystems that support a wide array of phorid flies. Such narrowly constrained lifestyles, as exemplified by exclusively feeding on and breeding in the head contents of certain ponerine worker ants, could allow the co-existence of a huge community of saprophagous flies.

Revision of the Melaloncha cingulata-Group of Bee-Killing Flies (Diptera: Phoridae)

Abstract The species of the Melaloncha cingulata-group are revised. The group consists of two described species, M. cingulata Borgmeier and M. lamellata Borgmeier, plus the following nine new to science: M. crassa, M. elviae, M. hirticula, M. nudibasalis, M. pertica, M. prosopica, M. succincta, M. thompsonae, and M. variabilis. Two monophyletic species groups are proposed: the M. lamellata-subgroup (M. lamellata, M. pertica, and M. thompsonae) and the M. cingulata-subgroup (all other species). Probable stingless bee hosts are identified for three species.