Fire-Adaptation in Hypocerides nearcticus Borgmeier and Anabarhynchus hyalipennis hyalipennis Marquart and New Notes about the Australian “Smoke Fly” Microsania australis Collart (Diptera: Phoridae, Therevidae and Platypezidae)

Abstract

This study deals with the fire-adapted behaviour of three Australian fly species on freshly burnt areas in Western Australia. The smoke fly, Microsania australis Collart (Platypezidae), swarms in smoke plumes. Our field studies present new notes about the ecology of Microsania, especially with respect to its ecological niche. Additionally, Hypocerides nearcticus Borgmeier (Phoridae) aggregated on burnt sites immediately after the fire forming distinct swarms outside smoke plumes, relatively close to the surface of burnt substrates, where copulation took place frequently. Unlike M. australis and H. nearcticus, Anabarhynchus hyalipennis hyalipennis Marquart (Therevidae) was always observed individually. Flies landed on ash-covered soil around burnt logs often near to hot spots, seemingly depositing eggs into the ash. This study documents fire-adaptation within the families of Phoridae and Therevidae for the first time, indicating a relation between pyrophilous behavioural patterns and reproduction in fire-adapted flies. Our results show that each fly species exploits a certain ecological niche which was created by the fire. Additionally, this is the first record of H. nearcticus in Australia.