The early stages and breeding sites of 10 Cerioidini flies (Diptera: Syrphidae)

Abstract

Approximately 197 species comprise the widespread syrphid tribe, the Cerioidini (Diptera: Syrphidae), but rearing data are known for <5% of species. We obtained puparia of 10 species from fieldwork in Costa Rica, Cuba, and México and from material loaned to us from Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, and the United States. These species are included in four of the five genera recognized in the tribe: two species of Ceriana Rafinesque, 1815; three species of Monoceromyia Shannon, 1925; four of Polybiomyia Shannon, 1925; and one species of Sphiximorpha Rondani, 1850. We describe and compare these puparia. They all possessed the diagnostic characters for the tribe. However, no early stage characters were correlated, hence early stages did not form groups based on shared characters. Some structures were relatively constant in form such as head skeletons and locomotory organs, but characters that showed plasticity included integumental vestiture and respiratory organs. A few features such as the unusually broader than long posterior respiratory process of Ceriana ornata Saunders, 1845, the spicules on the dorsum of the prothorax of Sphiximorpha barbipes (Loew, 1853), and the mesothoracic hooks of Monoceromyia tricolor (Loew, 1861) were unique to these species. Most cerioidine larvae were reared from tree sap but others came from tree holes, the liquid center of a cut agave (Agavaceae) and bee nests (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Field observations of larvae and their breeding site suggested functional explanations for some morphological features. © 2007 Entomological Society of America.