Vol 10 Part 1. Diptera. Syrphidae
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Royal Entomological Society HANDBOOKS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF BRITISH INSECTS To purchase current handbooks and to download out-of-print parts visit: http://www.royensoc.co.uk/publications/index.htm This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License. Copyright © Royal Entomological Society 2012 ROYAL ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON Vol. X. Part 1. HANDBOOKS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF BRITISH INSECTS DIPTERA SYRPHIDAE By R. L. COE LONDON Published by the Society • and Sold at its Rooms 4-1, Queen's Gate, S.W. 7 2sth August, 195"3 Accession No. 4966 Author Coe R L Subject DIPTERA HANDBOOKS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF BRITISH INSECTS The aim of this series of publications is to provide illustrated keys to the whole of the British Insects (in so far as this is possible), in ten volumes, as follows : I. Part I. General Introduction. Part 9. Ephemeroptera. , 2. Thysanura. , 10. Odonata. , 3. Protura. , 11. Thysanoptera. , 4. Collembola. , 12. Neuroptera. , 5. Dermaptera and , 13. :Mecoptera. Orthoptera. , 14. Trichoptera. , 6. Plecoptera. , 15. Strepsiptera. , 7. Psocoptera. , 16. Siphonaptera. , 8. Anoplura. II. Hemiptera. Ill. Lepidoptera. IV. and V. Coleoptera. VI. Hymenoptera : Symphyta and Aculeata. VII. Hymenoptera : Ichneumonoidea. VIII. Hymenoptera : Cynipoidea, Chalcidoidea, and Serphoidea. IX. Diptera: Nematocera and Brachycera. X. Diptera : Cyclorrhapha. Volumes II to X will be divided into parts of convenient size, but it is not po....a.1~u:-....:~.----.....l.L ___....__ __ _ ...:.• _ _ ....._-J....._,_. __~ _ _.__ Co ACCESSION NUMBER .................... .. .......... and each 1 >Ugh much 1ted, it is e British Entomological & Natural History Pa Society availa c/o Dinton Pastures Country Park, Oli Davis Street, Hurst, 1trar at th• Reading, Berkshire Tli RG10 OTH cost of init Presented by ... !.!.·. .A: .. ?..!!. .~ . ~ -~- '!'! .... .......... .. ... ... Date o c I 2 o' o Librarian REGULATIONS l.- No member shall be allowed to borrow more than five volumes at a time, or to keep any of them longer than three months. 2.- A member shall at any time on demand by the Librarian forthwith return any volumes in hi s possession. 3. - Members damaging, losing, or destroying any book belonging to the Society shall either provide a new copy or pay such sum as the Council shall think fi t. DIPTERA Family SYRPHIDAE By R. L. CoE CHARACTERISTICS. FLIEs of the family SYRPIDDAE are commonly known as " Hover-flies " and "Flower-flies," the former popular name having reference to their frequent mode of flight and the latter to their fondness for flowers. The males are habitual hoverers, often appearing almost motionless in the air, although capable of exceedingly swift movement when disturbed. In body coloration FIG. I.- Wing of a Syrphid, showing notation of veins. (h =humeral cross-vein. 1st CS = first costal cell. 2nd CS = second costal cell. SC = subcostal vein. SOl = first section of subcostal cell. SC2 = second section of subcostal cell. lA = first anal vein. 2A = second anal vein. 3A = third anal vein. a = arculus.) SYRPIDDAE are often entirely black or dark (e.g., Cheilosia and Pipizella), but in many genera the thorax bears yellow or orange stripes or other markings, and· the tergites are ornamented with more or less conspicuous white, yellow or orange lunules, spots or bands. Scientifically, SYRPIDDAE may be distinguished from other Cyclorrha phous families of Diptera by the following combination of characters: wings (fig. 1) with cell R 5 (first posterior) closed by the bending forward of the upper marginal cross-vein, which runs almost parallel to the wing margin; discal cell closed at apex by the lower marginal cross-vein, which also runs more or less parallel to the wing margin; a spurious (free) vein present, passing through the first basal cell and cell R 5, being really a vein like thickening of the wing membrane. In Britain there are 234 known species of SYRPIDDAE, and 13 named varieties of these. The smallest British species are Paragus tibialis Fallen (range of wing-length 3-4·5 mm.), Necascia podagrica Fabricius (range of wing-length 3-5 mm.) and N. dispar Meigen (range of wing-length 3-5·25 mm.), while the largest is the fine black a.ndyellowfty, VoZuceUa zonaria Poda (range of wing-length 15·5-19·5 mm.). 1 2 X (1). DIPTERA : SYRPHIDAE LIFE-HISTORY. The eggs of SYRPHIDAE are chalky-white in colour, and the chorion (shell) bears a typically reticulate pattern. In the species with carnivorous larvae the eggs are usually glued singly on plants or trees amongst or near the prey, while those whose larvae have other feeding habits usually deposit the eggs in masses on or near the larval habitat. A female of Rhingia campestris Meigen was observed to deposit within five minutes an aggregate of 108 eggs on clover-leaves overhanging ox-dung (Coe, 1942) ; the eggs (fig. 2a) were deposited side by side in close batches. The feeding-habits of the larvae of SYRPHIDAE are varied, some being carnivorous, others phytophagous, and others acting as scavengers in various media. As the early stages of fourteen of the fifty British Syrphid genera are practically unknown, there is obviously much scope for careful and energetic field study. In the carnivorous class the known larvae of various genera (e.g., Syrphus and Sphaerophoria) devour Aphids and other Homoptera, while the larvae of Xanthandrus corntus Harris suck the juices of the larvae of a Eucosmid moth (Lucchese, 1942). Prominent among the phytophagous kind are the larvae of Gheilosia, which feed in the stems and roots of various plants, also in fungi. The habitats of the scavenging larvae are very varied, some living in damp or wet rot-holes of trees (e.g., Xylota, Mallota and Pocota}, others in dung (e.g., Rhingia), others in foul water or liquid manure (e.g., Eristalis and Helophilus}, while the larvae of Volucella live in the nests of Bombus and V espula and those of M icrodon in the nests of ants. The aquatic larva of Ghrysogaster hirtella Loew pierces the roots of the grass Glyceria aquatica Smith by means of the spine-like hind spiracles and so obtains a supply of oxygen from the intercellular spaces of the plant (Varley, 1935 and 1937). Another interesting larva (fig. 2e) is that of Gallicera rufa Schummel, which leads a subaqueous existence in rot-holes in the Scots Pine (Coe, 1938). The remarkably well-developed trachea enable the "short-tailed" larva to live in this manner. The larva (fig. 2b, c) of Rhingia campestris Meigen lives in ox-dung, and the formidable segmental spines of the third-stage larva become so closely coated with fragments of the dung that the only visible part is the tip of the posterior respiratory process (Coe, 1942). In SYRPHIDAE the puparium is formed, as in other Cyclorrhapha, from the hardened, inflated larval integument, which encloses the true pupa. The shape is variable, being pear-shaped and stream-lined in the aphido phagous species, and more barrel-shaped in other forms, e.g., Rhingia (fig. 2d) and Xylota (fig. 2f ). The fully formed adult emerges by pushing off the lid-like operculum at the anterior end of the puparium. HABITS. Adult SYRPHIDAE frequent various flowers, from which they suck the nectar and transfer or consume the pollen. In early spring the newly opened catkins of Sallow attract many SYRPHIDAE, and the male (pollen-bearing) flowers appear to be more attractive than the female kind. Alderson (1909 and 1910) published some interesting observations on Syrphid visitors to Sallow. Ilse (1949) has demonstrated by experiment that Eristalis tenax Linnaeus shows a colour discrimination in selecting flowers, and that it seems to prefer yellow blossoms. a -... ................ _.. .................... -·-" ....__,. f b Fm. 2.-Early stages of SYRPHIDAE. a-d. Rhingia campestriB. a. Eggs in outline. b. Mature third-stage larva (a= antenna. b =anterior respiratory comu. c = posterior respiratory apparatus). c. Posterior respiratory process of third stage larva (a= spiracular opening. · b =circular plate). d. Puparium (a= pupal respiratory comua. b = larval posterior respiratory apparatus. c = oper culum). e. Callicera ruja, larva, showing extended anal gills. f. Xylota nemorum, puparium. (All after Terzi, except f.) 4 X (1). DIPTERA : SYRPHIDAE There is no doubt that some species of SYRPIDDAE over-winter in the adult stage. A living male and female of the common Drone-fly, Eristalis tenax, were found on lst January beneath the dried outer scales of stored onions (Timms, 1946), while living specimens of the same species were found sheltering in a crevice of exposed chalk in November (Ellis, 1937). Morley (1941) reported the discovery of a cluster of Eristalis aeneus Scopoli under a steel helmet inside a Suffolk church in November. Go:ffe (1934) observed numbers of Syrphus balteatus Degeer flying in warm sunshine on 17th February, and from the dull condition of captured specimens these had evidently over-wintered as adults. CoLLECTING AND PREPARATION. While the general technique for collecting adult Diptera (see Oldroyd, 1949) applies to SYRPIDDAE, the following hints should prove useful to students of the family : For killing SYRPIDDAE, the present writer uses an ordinary cyanide bottle or tube, and pins the insects while in the field. Other killing agents that have been found satisfactory by collectors are sulphur dioxide gas or a little ethyl acetate on filter-paper, the former being useful for retaining the bright yellow colours of Ohrysotoxum, etc., and the latter having the advantage of keeping the specimens in a relaxed condition. In pinning SYRPIDDAE, stainless steel pins of sufficient thickness are recommended, but these must be of good quality. Poor quality pins are extremely dangerous, as they are likely to bend at the slightest pressure with probable damage to the specimen.