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Oecanthus nigricornis (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) as the first known host of Stylogaster neglecta (Diptera: Conopidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2020

Erik A. Etzler Open the ORCID record for Erik A. Etzler [Opens in a new window] ,
William D. Brown ,
Luc F. Bussière  and
Darryl T. Gwynne
Erik A. Etzler*
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road N, Mississauga, Ontario, L5L 1C6, Canada
William D. Brown
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, State University of New York at Fredonia, Fredonia, New York, 14063, United States of America
Luc F. Bussière
Affiliation:
School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, United Kingdom
Darryl T. Gwynne
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road N, Mississauga, Ontario, L5L 1C6, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Email: erik.etzler@mail.utoronto.ca
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Abstract

The conopid fly Stylogaster neglecta Williston (Diptera: Conopidae) is a parasitoid with no known host. We report this species as the first recorded dipteran parasitoid of Oecanthus nigricornis Walker (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) (black-horned tree crickets). We reared field-collected O. nigricornis juveniles over several months in 2017 and found that larval S. neglecta emerged from them during late July into August. We estimated the incubation period for S. neglecta larvae to be around 30 days based on the length of time it took for them to emerge from the host and pupate (subsequently all hosts died). We documented several cases of multiple parasitism. In 2018, we dissected O. nigricornis sampled from four sites across southern Ontario, Canada and upstate New York, United States of America and found that the percentage of juvenile O. nigricornis parasitised ranged 2–39%. Further sampling will be necessary to determine whether this variation represents consistent population differences or between-year variation in parasitism.

Type
Research Papers
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 152 , Issue 5 , October 2020 , pp. 613 - 621
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Copyright
© 2020 Entomological Society of Canada

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Footnotes

Subject editor: Maya Evenden

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