[Syrphidae] Nausigaster larvae

[Graham Rotheray]

Dear Doug,  Carrera et al don't say much on colour.  We consider it in not
much greater detail in Rotheray et al 2000 The systematic position of
Alipumilio and Nausigaster based on early stages (Diptera, Syrphidae). Studia
Dipterologica 7, 133-144.

We reared Nausigaster larvae from various species of decaying cacti and
terrestrial bromeliads in southern Mexico and have subsequently reared them
from cacti in Costa Rica.  The blue colouration appears to become more intense
as the larva develops.  In the paper we speculate that it may protect the
larva from the high temperatures characteristic of the larval habitat.

All best wishes,
Graham
Doug Yanega wrote:

> Hi. Time to see if the lack of Syrphid mail in my box is due to list
> inactivity, or forgetting I had unsubscribed.
>
> Someone recently brought me a Nausigaster specimen reared from "blue,
> metallic larvae". All I could turn up in the literature on Nausigaster
> larvae was a reference to a paper by "Carrera, Lopes & Lane 1947" about S.
> American larvae - but without a journal citation! I'd be grateful for at
> least a brief summary of what was said, especially about larval coloration
> and feeding habits.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
> Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
> phone: (909) 787-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
>            http://entmuseum9.ucr.edu/staff/yanega.html
>   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
>         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
>
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