The Tachinid Times ISSUE 16 February 2003 Jim O’Hara, editor Arthropod Biodiversity Section Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada C.E.F., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0C6 Correspondence: [email protected] The Tachinid Times has been in continuous annual newsletter before the end of January 2004. This newsletter distribution since 1988, first as a hardcopy newsletter and is simultaneously produced in hardcopy and electronic later (beginning with issue 9 in 1996) as an electronic formats with identical pagination and appearance. document available on the Internet. It was first offered electronically in HTML format but was changed to PDF in Abstracts from the Fifth International Congress of 2001 to maintain uniformity between the simultaneously Dipterology (by J.E. O’Hara) published hardcopy and electronic versions. The newsletter The Fifth International Congress of Dipterology was is about to undergo another change, not in appearance but held in Brisbane, Australia, from 29 September to 4 in its URL address. I can no longer offer this newsletter on October 2002. Below are reproduced the abstracts of the a Government of Canada website because of strict new two oral and three poster presentations on the Tachinidae regulations governing such sites, so sometime this summer that were given at the Congress. These abstracts were The Tachinid Times will be relocated to a brand new printed in the Abstracts Volume of the Congress (see Diptera website that I am helping to develop on behalf of Tachinid Bibliography in this issue) with the exception of the North American Dipterists Society (NADS). Financial O’Hara’s poster presentation that is inexplicably missing support for the new website was recently approved by the from the Volume. Dipterology Fund. This new website will have an appro- priate domain name (as yet unregistered) and will offer A review of New World Zaira Robineau-Desvoidy North American dipterists with a specialized site for their (Diptera; Tachinidae; Blondeliini) (Oral presentation by D. electronic products. I hope to make available on the web- Hansen) site all back issues of The Tachinid Times and my other Zaira Robineau-Desvoidy is a genus of small to electronic Tachinidae products. moderate-sized tachinid flies that is restricted in dis- As in past years, I encourage all readers who work tribution to the New World except for the type species, with tachinids and find this newsletter of interest to send which is widespread in the Palaearctic region. Recorded me a note about his or her research for inclusion in next hosts are adult beetles belonging to the Scarabaeidae, year’s issue. Student submissions are particularly welcome, Carabidae and Tenebrionidae. Adults are mostly crepus- especially abstracts from theses and accounts of studies in cular or nocturnal in habit. Fourteen species are currently progress or about to begin. Submissions on all aspects of recognized as valid in America north of Mexico and six tachinid biology and systematics are gladly accepted but are recognized as valid in Mexico and Trinidad. While no please keep in mind that this is not a peer-reviewed journal species has been described from mainland South America, and is mainly intended for shorter news items that are of distributional evidence indicates that the range of Zaira is special interest to persons involved in tachinid research. more extensive in the Neotropics than currently reported. Colour images are easily incorporated into the newsletter Known distributions of Zaira species will be reviewed and so I encourage contributors to send images to accompany morphological characters useful for discrimination of their text whenever possible (please send images and text species and for phylogenetic analyses will be discussed. as separate files). Characters useful for discerning the pattern of relation- Please send me your news for inclusion in next year’s ships among Zaira and related genera (Cryptomeigenia, The Tachinid Times Istocheta) will be discussed. A preliminary assessment of Forest fragmentation: its impact on food webs and described and undescribed taxa will be presented. biodiversity in an urban environment: a study using Lepidoptera and Tachinidae (Poster presentation by F.R. Advances in the phylogenetics of the Tachininae Schnitzler) (Tachinidae) (Oral presentation by J.E. O’Hara) Flies of the family Tachinidae otherwise known as The Tachininae are one of the four subfamilies of the parasitic flies represent a very diverse, advanced and Tachinidae, a family whose members are exclusively useful group of parasitoid flies. Tachinidae parasitise a endoparasitic on other arthropods during their larval stage. variety of insects such as butterflies, moth and beetle The subfamily is worldwide in distribution and comprises larvae. New Zealand’s Tachinidae are a very varied group approximately 2000 described species, or about 25% of all with possibly more than 190 species. Endemism in New Tachinidae. Hosts range from scorpions and centipedes to Zealand is over 90% at the generic and species level. various orders of Insecta, but are predominantly larval Despite the importance of tachinid flies as natural Lepidoptera. A selection of species from the outgroup enemies, the lack of the work on this group in New subfamilies Dexiinae and Exoristinae and over 100 Zealand is striking. Many hosts of New Zealand’s exemplars from within the Tachininae were chosen for a Tachinidae are unknown as well as the effects different phylogenetic analysis. A large percentage of the ingroup landscapes have on tachinid fly populations. Also very taxa belonged to the tribes Ernestiini, Linnaemyini, little is known about the relationship between urban Nemoraeini, Polideini and Tachinini in order to develop a habitats such as forest fragments and bush remnants in revised classification scheme for this large clade within the relation to tachinid density and diversity. Tachininae. Exemplars of species belonging to unplaced Alteration of plant diversity and introduction of exotic genera of North American Tachininae were included in the plant species, as well as pollution and stress on trees all analysis to attempt to elucidate their affinities within the have their impact on insect populations. Furthermore, subfamily. The analysis was conducted using PAUP and landscape effects such as different habitat types (com- MacClade and was based on morphological characters of position) and their arrangement in space (context and adults, particularly characters of the male terminalia. The connectivity) influence the diversity of insects. Few results of the analysis will be reviewed, including a studies have linked those relationships to the trophic discussion of the monophyly of the Tachininae and the relationships between Lepidoptera and Tachinidae. implications for a reclassification of the subfamily. The research project will investigate how differing urban forest and bush remnants impact on tachinid fly Tachinid parasitoids of Nearctic Choristoneura species populations and their relationship with their butterfly and (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) (Poster presentation by J.E. moth hosts. Lepidopteran larvae will be sampled as well as O’Hara) their diversity and density altered experimentally to Leafrollers of the genus Choristoneura (Lepidoptera: establish Tachinidae parasitism. Tortricidae) comprise 17 species in the Nearctic region and The main questions I would like to address in this include such serious agricultural and forestry pests as the study are: How does forest fragment size, composition, spruce budworm (C. fumiferana), western spruce budworm context or connectiveness relate to plant, butterfly/moth (C. occidentalis), large aspen tortrix (C. conflictana), jack and Tachinidae diversity? The study will relate different pine budworm (C. pinus) and obliquebanded leafroller (C. densities and diversities between each of these groups. A rosaceana). Natural control factors that help to keep “Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan” (MSHCP) populations of these pests in check include endoparasitoids (Scott, 2000) for urban environments will be established of several insect families, in particular the Tachinidae using Wellington as a model. This plan will incorporate (Diptera), Braconidae (Hymenoptera) and Ichneumonidae the variety of species and the trophic relationships across (Hymenoptera). There are about 20 species of Tachinidae the levels plant, butterfly/moth and Tachinidae. The aim of that have been reported from Nearctic Choristoneura this plan is to make recommendations towards the imple- species but only about half of these are commonly mentation and management of habitat reserves and forest recorded; the other half represent rare or accidental fragments, for the maintenance of natural enemy diversity parasitism of Choristoneura species or dubious records. as a bio-control agent of plant pests. An illustrated identification guide is under preparation to [Editor’s Note: Rudi Schnitzler is conducting the above separate the adults and puparia of the confirmed tachinid study as part of a Ph.D. program at Victoria University in parasitoids of Nearctic Choristoneura species. The guide Wellington, New Zealand. The study has since been will include an illustrated key, digitally enhanced images expanded to include hymenopteran parasitoids of Lepid- of the adult and puparium of each species, and information optera.] on the life history of each species. Page 2 Issue 16, February 2003 The Tachinid Times Summit conference: hilltopping behaviour of male tachinid flies (Tachinidae)