Tetanops myopaeformis
| Tetanops myopaeformis | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Tetanops myopaeformis | ||||||||||||
| ( Roeder , 1881) |
Tetanops myopaeformis is a type of fly from the family of ornamental flies (Ulidiidae). Thefly larvae ( maggots ) are found on the roots of sugar beets , where they cause immense damage.
features
To fly
The strikingly large head with the broad forehead led to the original generic name Eurycephala (broad head). Except for the brown antennae and the yellow lower face, it is black. The feelers are relatively far apart. A forehead gap runs almost in a straight line between them. The two sensor pits are separated by a strip-like raised edge. The complex eyes are round and relatively small.
The thorax is streaked black and faint gray. The abdomen is glossy black. The legs are also black, but show a straw yellow color at the joints. The links of the tarsi are also colored yellow, but they become darker towards the end.
The wings show the typical veining of ornamental flies, the wings of which have different bands and spots. Tetanops myopaeformis has a dark spot at the base of the wings and a second spot in front of the marginal mark up to the fourth transverse artery. The wings are yellowish in color.
The female has a laying tube with a channel for laying eggs.
Maggots
Depending on the larval stage, the maggot is colored in different shades of white and covered with a transparent integument . Their length after hatching is 0.75 millimeters, they are up to 2.1 millimeters long in the first larval stage, their diameter is 0.2 to 0.5 millimeters. At this stage it is pure white in color. In the second larval stage, the maggot becomes up to 3 millimeters long, its diameter is then 0.5 to 0.8 millimeters, and it becomes ivory in color. In the third larval stage, the maggot can exceed a centimeter in length and become 2 millimeters thick. At this stage, their color is cream-colored to yellowish.
On the last segment there are two breathing cones, the tips of which are dark brown in color. Here the trachea end in the two posterior respiratory openings (spiracles). Each stigma consists of three breathing slots arranged in parallel.
Way of life
Tetanops myopaeformis is one of the few species of the ornamental fly family whose larvae feed on plants. They feed on the roots, which the plant uses to supply water and nutrients. There they damage the rhizodermis and eat tunnels and channels through the roots. The plants will wither and cripple. The flies lay their eggs almost exclusively on the roots of crops such as beets (genus Beta ) and spinach (genus Spinacia ) and are therefore considered pests. In the United States in particular , where large areas of sugarbeet-growing areas are infested by the fly, there is research to develop new methods of pest control and to raise beets that are resistant to the fly and its maggots. There the maggot is called Sugar Beet Root Maggot (German "Zuckerrübenwurzelmade").
Symbiosis with bacteria
Symbioses of the fly with bacteria from the genus Serratia are known. Serratia liquefaciens and Serratia marcescens are present at all stages of development of the insect . It is assumed that they participate in the metamorphosis by breaking down chitin in the puparium (doll's shell).
Systematics and nomenclature
The fly was first described by Viktor von Röder in 1881 under the name Eurycephala myopaeformis . In 1907 the Viennese dipterologist Friedrich Hendel replaced the name Eurycephala with Eurycephalomyia , because Eurycephala was already assigned to a genus of soft bugs , which is now called Halticus . Eurycephalomyia is now only used for a subgenus of the genus Tetanops and contains only one species, namely Tetanops (Eurycephalomyia) sintenisi .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Kathy L. Iverson, Mary C. Bromel, Albin W. Anderson, Thomas P. Freeman: Bacterial Symbionts in the Sugar Beet Root Maggot, Tetanops myopaeformis (von Röder). In: Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 47, January 1, 1984, pp. 22-27, ISSN 0099-2240 . PMID 16346457 . PMC 239605 (free full text).
- ↑ a b J. M. Bjerke, AW Anderson and TP Freeman: Morphology of the Larval Stages of Tetanops myopaeformis (Roeder) (Diptera: Otitidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 65, no. 1, Jan. 1992, pp. 59-65
- ↑ Viktor von Röder: Eurycephala ng, a new genus of diptera . Berliner entomologische Zeitschrift, 25, pp. 211–212, 1881
- ↑ RT Schuh: References for genus Eurycephala Laporte, 1832 , On-line Systematic Catalog of Plant Bugs (Insecta: Heteroptera: Miridae), The American Museum of Natural History 2002-2013
literature
- Viktor von Röder: Eurycephala ng, a new genus of Diptera . Berliner entomologische Zeitschrift, 25, pp. 211–212, 1881 (first description)