#conopidae — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #conopidae, aggregated by home.social.
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CW: Gross conopid fly biology facts
So what's an internal parasite maggot got to do, to successfully keep the host (a bee or wasp) alive until it's ready to pupate?
For one, hold all its poop in its gut. Otherwise it would intoxicate and kill its host.
So what's the first thing that the adult conopid fly must do upon hatching? My guess is: take a huge dump!
From:
"Larval development of Physocephala (Diptera, Conopidae) in the bumble bee Bombus morio (Hymenoptera, Apidae)", Abdalla et al. 2014
https://www.scielo.br/j/rbent/a/cxbqp6qb9mCPgg9BTT9Vx5w/?lang=en&format=pdfAs cited in Gibson's 2011 thesis.
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Flies galore, of the parasitoid kind:
Tachinid fly, Gymnostoma rotundanum http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165099855 . The #Tachinidae lay eggs on the surface of their host—often other insects—with such strong glue that removing the egg would kill the host. Often even drop larvae directly on the hosts.
Thick-headed fly, Physocephala visatta http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165098840 The #Conopidae are internal parasites of bees and wasps—intercepting them in mid flight, the female’s abdomen has a “can opener” to insert an egg between the abdominal tergites of the host.
Beefly, Lasiopa sp. http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165105614 The #Bombylidae drop their eggs while in flight near the entrance of solitary bee nests. The larvae crawl in and take over the bee’s resources of nectar and pollen, either starving or directly eating the bee larva.
All the adults happily sip nectar; the larvae, meanwhile, rival parasitoid wasps in their lifestyle and effectiveness.