Predation of Thereva nobilitata (Fabricius) (Diptera: Therevidae) on Agriotes obscurus L. (Coleoptera: Elateridae)

Little is known about the natural enemies of wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae), but there are frequent anecdotal reports of (usually unnamed) stiletto fly larvae (Diptera: Therevidae) preying on various species. We observed larvae of Thereva nobilitata (Fabricius) feeding on larvae of the dusky wir...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied entomology (1986) 2015-02, Vol.139 (1-2), p.154-157
Main Authors: van Herk, W. G., Vernon, R. S., Cronin, E. M. L., Gaimari, S. D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriotes
Agriotes obscurus
Coleoptera
Diptera
Elateridae
introduced species
predator
Thereva
therevid
Therevidae
wireworm
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Summary:Little is known about the natural enemies of wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae), but there are frequent anecdotal reports of (usually unnamed) stiletto fly larvae (Diptera: Therevidae) preying on various species. We observed larvae of Thereva nobilitata (Fabricius) feeding on larvae of the dusky wireworm, Agriotes obscurus L., during the summer of 2011, in Agassiz, British Columbia. This finding is of interest as: both the predator and the wireworm are introduced species to this area from Europe; T. nobilitata is uncommon in North America; and this predator has not been associated with any wireworm species previously. We observed that larvae of male and female T. nobilitata will feed on various sizes of A. obscurus larvae, most feeding being carried out by the smallest T. nobilitata larvae. These findings suggest future work should assess the potential for therevid larvae as top‐down regulators of Agriotes larvae under field conditions.
ISSN:0931-2048
1439-0418
DOI:10.1111/jen.12162