Phorid flies parasitzing leaf-cutng ants: Their occurrence, parasitsm rates, biology and the first account of multparasitsm

Abstract

The leaf-cutng ants Ata sexdens (Linnaeus) and Ata laevigata (Smith) were parasitzed by the following phorid flies: Apocephalus atophilus Borgmeier, Apocephalus vicosae Disney, Myrmosicarius grandicornis Borgmeier and species of Eibesfeldtphora Disney. The area of occurrence of phorids parasitzing A. sexdens was extended to include Central Brazil. The rate of parasitsm on A. sexdens was three tmes lower than the rate found on A. laevigata; the most common flies were, respectvely, M. grandicornis in A. sexdens and A. atophilus in A. laevigata. This last phorid showed the shortest life span but the higher percentage of emergence. Multparasitsm on workers of A. sexdens and of A. laevigata involving three combinatons of four phorid species was rare and is here related for the first tme for leaf-cutng ants.