Parasitic interactions: Parasitoids
Diptera, Tachinidae
Diptera, Tachinidae
| Nederlands | : | Sluipvliegen |
| Deutsch | : | Raupenfliegen, Schmarotzerfliegen |
| The family Tachinidae is, with almost 10,000 described species, one of the largest families of flies. The adults are often quite recognizable from their abdomen which is often adorned with stout bristles - but these are absent in the subfamily Phasiinae. Almost all Tachinid flies are larval parasitoids of other insects, with only a handful of exceptions. Their hosts are mostly phytophagous insects, especially caterpillars, sawflies, beetles or true bugs. More than half of all dipteran parasitoids are Tachinids. The ancestral mode of attacking the host is simply sticking an undeveloped egg onto it, a mode still employed by the subfamily Phasiinae and some species in the subfamily Exoristinae. But most Tachinids incubate their eggs, which are ready to hatch just after oviposition. Eggs may hatch into planidial larvae that actively search for the host. Alternatively, eggs may be placed on the host, or injected into the host. One group of species lays numerous small egs, which hatch only after being ingested by the host. Members of the subfamily Phasiinae are relatively bare-bodies parasitoids of especially Hemiptera, or true bugs. Most species deposit a large, unincubated eggs on the host. The subfamily Dexiinae encompasses relatively large, bristly and conspicuously long-legged flies that lay ready-to-hatch eggs. Their hosts are usually beetles, especially Scarabaeidae or caterpillars, which are actively hunted by the first-instar larvae. The large subfamily Exoristinae is a large group with about half of all Tachinid species. The group is diverse, and the whole range of oviposition strategies can be found in this subfamily. The most diverse subfamily is the Tachininae. Most Tachininae deposit large numbers of eggs in the host's habitat. Tachinines usually attack caterpillars, but hosts range from other flies, beetles, grasshoppers, earwigs and even some non-insects, such as centipedes and scorpions. Source: Marshall, S.A. 2012. Flies: The natural history and diversity of diptera; p. 386 - 390. |
An anthology of Tachinidae |
