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DIPALTA SERPENTINA OSTEN SACKEN (DIPTERA: BOMBYLIIDAE) AS A PREDATOR ON PUPAE OF THE ANTLION MYRMELEON IMMACULATUS DEGEER (NEUROPTERA: MYRMELEONTIDAE) IN CALIFORNIA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Robin Leech
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E3
B.J. MacDonald-Leech
Affiliation:
School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, University of Technology-Sydney, Gore Hill, N.S.W. 2065, Australia

Extract

The first record of Dipalta serpentina Osten Sacken, 1877, preying on larvae of Myrmeleon immaculatus DeGeer, 1773, was by Smith (1934: 136-137), who stated that the fly larvae were “parasitic” on the antlion larvae. Cole and Schlinger (1969: 251) stated that the fly larva of this species “…is parasitic on the larvae of Myrmeleontidae.”

Although the fly larvae may prey upon the larvae of the antlion, we have established that they definitely prey upon the antlion pupae (Fig. 1). Judging from the emergence dates (early September 1988) of the flies, each had preyed upon an antlion pupa within its cocoon. Each antlion cocoon had one hole in it. An examination of the contents of each antlion cocoon revealed the cast skin of the antlion larva and the empty, clear skin of the antlion pupa. The pupal skins were not split open, which they would have been if the adult antlion had emerged. They were shrivelled, and looked much as if the contents had been sucked out.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1989

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References

Cole, F.R., and Schlinger, E.I.. 1969. The Flies of Western North America. University of California Press, Berkeley. xi + 693 pp., 360 figs.Google Scholar
Smith, R.C. 1934. Notes on the Neuroptera and Mecoptera of Kansas, with keys for the identification of species. J. Kans. ent. Soc. 7(4): 120145, 10 figs.Google Scholar