The phenology of dominant scuttle-fly (Diptera: Phoridae) species in the Białowieża Forest

Abstract

Scuttle flies were collected in different-aged pine stands in 1986 and 1987, using yellow plastic bowls attached to crowns of trees or placed on the ground. The phenology of Megaselia brevicostalis, M. giraudii and M. verralli, the dominant species of moist pine forest in the Białowieża Forest, was characterized by two or more abundance peaks, which indicate a multivoltine life cycle. Megaselia diversa, the autumn eudominant of young-growth phase stands, and Megaselia woodi, the autumn dominant and eudominant of the stands of older age classes, are both univoltine species. Their abundances peaked in September. Along the increasing age of the stands, distinct successional phases of phorid communities were recorded: photophilous species of open sites (M. brevicostalis and M. verralli) were replaced by forest species (M. diversa, M. giraudii and M. woodi).