him:
| Apocephalus | |
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| Female Apocephalus borealis | |
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| Genus: | Apocephalus Coquillett, 1901
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| Type species | |
| Apocephalus pergandei Coquillett, 1901
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Apocephalus is a genus of phorid flies (Diptera: Phoridae) commonly referred to as "ant-decapitating flies". They are found throughout the New World from tree line in the North to rain forests at the equator. .[2] They are found in most habitats, except the driest deserts. records from other biogeographical regions represent species that probably should be placed in other genera. They are small flies, usually about 1–3 millimetres (0.04–0.12 in) in length. Fossil species are known from Miocene Dominican amber.
Life history
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Species of Apocephalus are parasitoids of various arthropods, especially ants, but also stingless bees (Meliponini), European honey bees (Apis mellifera), bumblebees (Bombus), and cantharoid beetles (fireflies, soldier beetles).
Taxonomy
editThe type species of the genus is Apocephalus pergandei Coquillett, a species from North America that parasitizes carpenter ants, Camponotus. About 300 species are known, but many more exist, and the final total for the genus is likely to be 400-600. Apocephalus is organized into two subgenera, Mesophora ( species) and Apocephalus (## species). Revisions of various subgroups have taken place (see references at http://phorid.net/publications/publications_index.html [1].[3]
Economic importance
editThe parasitization of honey bees and native stingless bees causes premature mortality of workers and is a drain on the colony . The effects of Apocephalus borealis parasitism on commercial beekeeping and the scale of financial losses due to these flies has not been studied.
References
edit- ^ Core, Andrew (2012). PLoS ONE.
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Discover Life map of Apocephalus". Retrieved June 15, 2010.
- ^ Brian V. Brown (1993). "Taxonomy and preliminary phylogeny of the parasitic genus Apocephalus, subgenus Mesophora (Diptera: Phoridae)". Systematic Entomology. 18: 191–230.