Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Diptera larva?

Posted by jck on 24-05-2014 10:33
#1

Does anyone recognise this as a parasitic Diptera larva? I don't know what it is - am waiting to hear from a mycologist if it might be a fungal problem. The host is Rhabdomiris striatellus (Miridae). Found near Apeldoorn, province of Gelderland, the Netherlands on 13 May this year.

James

Posted by Tony Irwin on 24-05-2014 11:15
#2

Some Phasia species have been reared from Miridae, but the abdomen in this bug appears to have swollen to more than twice its normal size, which, to me, suggests a fungus rather than a parasitoid

Posted by jck on 24-05-2014 13:29
#3

Thanks, Tony. I'm familiar with Entomphthora on flies and earwigs but this looked just a bit too glossy and evenly surfaced to be one of those. I gather that there are other fungi which may affect Miridae so I will try that avenue too.

James

Posted by jck on 06-06-2014 05:16
#4

I have been told by a Hemiptera expert here in the Netherlands that this is probably caused by a nematode infestation (Mermithidae)

James