Aquatic Diptera Diptera - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Aquatic

DipteraSlide2

Diptera

"flies“

Almost 120,000 spp. worldwide

51,197 spp. worldwide are aquatic or

semiaquatic

17,000 spp. in 2,222

genn

. in 108

famm

. in North America

6,081+ spp. in 495

genn

. in 30

famm

. in North America are aquatic or

semiaquaticSlide3

Pest

Diptera

Over 50% of world's population presently infected with diseases carried by flies

Much of human history has been affected by the role of flies in disease transmission, both in determining the outcomes of war and in retarding economic development.

Also, flies cause considerable crop loss each year both in the field and in storage. Slide4

Beneficial

Diptera

Dipterous parasites and predators rank with Hymenoptera in controlling pest insects

Role of flies in detritus processing exceeded only by bacteria and fungi

In aquatic ecosystems, flies often play a key role in food webs. Slide5

Diagnosis of Fly Adults

Adults: Winged adults always with one pair of wings on the

mesothorax

, and a pair of halters on the

metathorax

di = two,

ptera

= wingsSlide6

Diagnosis of Fly Larvae (maggots)

Never with segmented legs, although fleshy

prolegs

sometimes present

Head may be fully developed, fully developed but retracted into thorax, partially developed (whether retracted or not), or with only a few tiny

sclerites

(the most conspicuous of which are mouth hooks)

May have posterior breathing tube (sometimes telescoping) and/or anal papillae or filamentous gills

apneustic

(without spiracles)

metapneustic

(with only caudal spiracles)amphipneustic (with prothoracic and caudal spiracles) Slide7

Diagnosis of Fly Pupae

Generally

exarate

with prothoracic

spiracular

gills or

Enclosed in

puparium

(modified and hardened final larval

exuviae

)Slide8

Diptera

Habitats

All

Diptera

are aquatic in the broadest sense, requiring a humid environment for development

Most

Nematocera

and several

Brachycera

eggs, larvae, and pupae develop only when submerged in wet environments

These insects live in almost every type of aquatic habitat, including coastal marine and brackish waters and brine pools; shallow and deep lakes; ponds; geyser pools up to 49øC; natural seeps of crude petroleum; stagnant or temporary pools and puddles; water in bromeliads and pitcher plants and in artificial containers; slow to fast flowing streams and rivers. Slide9

Diptera Habits

Planktonic

Clinging

Sprawling

Burrowing Slide10

Diptera

Trophic Relationships

All of Merritt et al.’s (2008, Table 6C, page 108) categories except piercing plants:

Shredders-herbivores, -

detritivores

, -gougers

Collectors-filterers, -gatherers

Scrapers

Predators-

engulfers

–piercers

ParasitesSlide11

Suborder Nematocera Larva

Well-

sclerotized

head fully exposed (except Tipulidae, with head retracted into thorax and often

sclerotized

only in long slender rods)

Mandibles opposed, moving horizontallySlide12

Suborder Nematocera Adult

With long antennae, composed of 6 or more freely articulated segmentsSlide13

INFRAORDER TIPULOMORPHA

Superfamily Tipuloidea

Family

Tipulidae

(crane flies, leatherJackets)

Head capsule incomplete posteriorly, withdrawn into thorax

larvae of most spp.

metapneustic

, requiring occasional return to air

Nearly 1,600 spp. of aquatic or semiaquatic crane flies in North America, world-wide the largest family of flies. Slide14

Tipulidae (continued)

Generally lentic-littoral, lotic-erosional and depositional -- Spp. in the family are aquatic, semiaquatic, or live in decaying vegetation, under bark, in fungi, or feed on leaves or roots of forage crops or seedling field crops

Most pupae and all adults are terrestrial

Mostly shredders-detritivores and collectors-gatherers, few shredders-herbivores and predators

Generally burrowers, sometimes also sprawlers or clingers;

Antocha

is unusual -- a clinger in a silken tube in lotic erosional habitatsSlide15

Tipulidae

Crane Flies

Long legs

V-shaped suture on mesonotumSlide16

Very Good Crane Fly Website

http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/craneflySlide17

Family

Simuliidae

(black flies)

Caudal circle of tiny hooks

Filtering fans on head

Lotic-erosional

Clingers

Collectors-filterers

Pupae usually in slipper-shaped cocoons open downstream from which opening the branched spiracular gills trail in the water

Females of several spp. require vertebrate blood meal for ovarial development

Some spp. carry filarial nematode parasites of vertebrates, most serious of which is

Onchocerca volvulus

of tropical Africa ("river blindness" or "onchocerciasis") Slide18

Simuliidae

Humped back

Broad wings

Anterior veins strong, posterior veins weak

Short antennaeSlide19

Excellent Resource

Adler, P.H., D.C. Currie, and D.M. Wood. 2004. The black flies (Simuliidae) of North America. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. 941 pp. + 24 color plates.Slide20

Family

Chironomidae (midges)

Apneustic

With paired prothoracic and/or anal prolegs

Various spp. occur in virtually all freshwater habitats, including marine habitats, springs, and tree holes

Burrowers or clingers (mostly tube builders), sprawlers, rarely climbers

Usually either collectors-gatherers and -filterers and scrapers or predators (engulfers or piercers)Slide21

Chironomidae (continued)

Most important family of aquatic insects in terms of species diversity, biomass, and ecosystem energy processing

Llife cycles may be completed in 2 weeks to several years, generally 1 or 2 generations per year

1st instar planktonic and often quite different from later instars in morphology; 2nd - 4th instars and pupa benthic; pupa swims to surface to emerge; adults live a few days, may take liquid carbohydrates such as aphid honeydew and flower nectar; eggs broadcast over the water or laid on the surface or on vegetation

Pupae generally more readily diagnostic than larvaeSlide22

Chironomidae

non-biting midges

Male antennae plumose

Postnotum

usually with longitudinal grooveSlide23

Best Key for Carolinas Midges

Epler

, J. "Identification Manual for the Larval

Chironomidae

(

Diptera

) of North and South Carolina,”

pdf

at http://www.esb.enr.state.nc.us/BAUwww/Chironomid.htmSlide24

Family

Athericidae (

watersnipe

flies)

Head retracted, anterior end tapered

Paired spiny prolegs on each abdominal segment (except unpaired on last segment)

Very distinctive fringed terminal filaments posteriorly

Lotic-erosional (mostly) or -depositional (usually cold mountain streams)

Sprawlers and burrowers

Predators-piercers

Atherix

lanthus is the only eastern N. Amer. sp. Slide25

Athericidae

3-segmented antennae

Veins equally strong

Costal vein continuing around wing tip