We report Strongygaster (=Hyalomyodes ) triangulifer as a solitary primary parasite of the adult introduced dung beetle, Aphodius fimetarius. This is the first record of this tachinid fly parastizing scarab

Herd, Rupert P

Pavuk, Daniel M

Purrington, Foster Forbes

Stinner, Benjamin R

English

Valparaiso University

The Great Lakes Entomologist Volume 23 Number 3 - Fall 1990 Number 3 - Fall 1990 Article 9 October 1990 First Scarab Host for Strongygaster Triangulifer (Diptera: Tachinidae): the Dung Beetle, Aphodius Fimetarius (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Foster Forbes Purrington The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Daniel M. Pavuk The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Rupert P. Herd Ohio State University Benjamin R. Stinner Ohio State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle  Part of the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Purrington, Foster Forbes; Pavuk, Daniel M.; Herd, Rupert P.; and Stinner, Benjamin R. 1990. "First Scarab Host for Strongygaster Triangulifer (Diptera: Tachinidae): the Dung Beetle, Aphodius Fimetarius (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 23 (3) Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol23/iss3/9 This Peer-Review Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. 1990 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 171 FmST SCARAB HOST FOR STRONGYGASTER TRIANGULIFER (DIPTERA: TACHINIDAE): THE DUNG BEETLE, APHODIUS FIMETARIUS (COLEOPTERA: SCARABAEIDAE)l Foster Forbes Purrington2 , Daniel M. Pavuk2 , Rupert P. Herd3, and Benjamin R. Stinner2 ABSTRACT We report Strongygaster (=Hyalomyodes ) triangulifer as a solitary primary parasite of the adult introduced dung beetle, Aphodius /imetarius. This is the first record of this tachinid fly parastizing scarabs. The Old World dung beetle, Aphodius /imetarius (L.) (Coleoptera: Scara­baeidae), is globally distributed in temperate zones. In northeastern Ohio this spe­cies is ubiquitous and can be very numerous locally. Adults of both sexes are distinc­tive among introduced and native Aphodiini by their bright red elytra, black head and pronotum, and large size: to 8.5 rom (Blatchley 1910). They reproduce in the dung of many herbivorous mammals, especially cattle, and in moist litter. Coloniz­ing adults tunnel extensively and oviposit in drying dung pats; larvae develop in cells within the pat. According to Mohr (1943), A. /imetarius is essentially univoltine; adults overwinter in dung, oviposit in spring, and produce an autumn adult cohort. We obtained ca. 200 adult A. /imetarius in mid-April 1989 from overwintered cattle dung pats in a wooded pasture near Apple Creek, Ohio (Wayne Co.). They were held individually in plastic 30 ml cups at room temperature and 600/0 RH. Eight of these captive beetles produced a single fly larva each. From puparia that subse­quently formed, adult tachinid flies eclosed in five days (ca. 5 May 1989) and were identified by the USDA Systematic Entomology Laboratory as Strongygaster (=Hyalomyodes) trianguli/er (Loew). This New World fly typically parasitizes only adult insects [Thompson (1954) viewed reports of larval parasitism as abnormal occurrences]. Previously reported hosts span a broad phylogenetic range that includes Orthoptera, Dermaptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera, and Lepidoptera (Lange 1950, Sabrosky and Braun 1970, Smith and Kok 1983, Kevan and Koshnaw 1988). Our record is the first o  such parasitism in a scarab, and with it nine beetle families now contain reported hosts for S. triangulifer (Table 1). ISalaries and research support provided by State and Federal funds appropriated to the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University. Manuscript number 8-90. . 2Department of Entomology, The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster, OH 44691. 3Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210. 1Purrington et al.: First Scarab Host for <i>Strongygaster Triangulifer</i> (Diptera:Published by ValpoScholar, 1990172 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 23, NO.3 Table 1. - Beetle families containing reported hosts for Strongygaster triangulijer (Loew). BEETLE HOST FAMILY REFERENCE Lampyridae Cleridae Meloidae Alleculidae Nitidulidae Coccinellidae Chrysomelidae Curculionidae Braun 1970 Turnbow and Franklin 1979 Cortes and Hichins 1969 Thompson 1954 Williams et al. 1981 Thompson 1954, Wellso and Hoxie 1969 Thompson 1954, Sabrosky and Braun 1970, Wellso and Hoxie 1969, Herzog 1977. Thompson 1954, Sabrosky and Braun 1970 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank C. Britton and P. Sachariat for their excellent bibliographic support. N.E. Woodley of the USDA Systematic Entomology Laboratory at BeltsYille, MD kindly identifi dStro gygast r triangulijer. LITERATURE CITED Blatchley, W.S. 1910. An illustrated descriptive catalogue of the Coleoptera or beeIles known to occur in Indiana. Bull. Ind. Dept. Gool. Nat. Resources, L 1386 pp. Cortes, R. and N. Hichens. 1969. Taquinidos de Chile. Distribuci6n gerogr:ifica y huespedes conocidos. Ediciones de la Universidad de Chile. 92 pp. Herzog, D. C. 1977. Bean leaf beetle: parasitism by Celatoria diabroticae (Shimer) and Hyalo­myodes triangulijer (Loew). J. Ga. Entomol. Soc. 12:64-68. Kevan, D. K. McE. and R. T. B. Koshnaw. 1988. Hyalomyodes (Diptera: Tachinidae), an endoparasite of Tetrigoidea (Orthoptera). Entomol. Rec. 100:55-57. Lange, W. H. 1950. Biology and systematics of plume moths of the genus Platyprilia in California. Hilgardia 19:561-668. Mohr. C. O. 1943. Cattle droppings as ecological units. Eco!. Monogr. 13:275-309. Sabrosky, C. W. and B. H Braun. 1970. A tachinid parasite of fireflies (Diptera: Tachlnidae, Coleoptera: Lampyridae). Entomol. News 81:185-187. Smith, L. M. and L. T. Kok. 1983. Hyalomyodes triangulifer (Diptera: Tachlnidae) parasitizes adults of Rhinocyllus conicus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Can. EntomoI. 115:1533-1534. Thompson, W. R. 1954. Hyalomyodes triangulifera Loew (Diptera: Tachinidae). Can. Ento­mol. 86:137-144. Turnbow, R. H. and R. T. Franklin. 1977. Hyalomyodes triangulijera (Diptera: Tachlnidae): a parasite of the southern pine beetle redator Thanasimus dubius (Coleoptera: Cleridae). Ga. EntomoL Soc. 14:174-176. Wellso, S.O. and R. P. Hoxie. 1969. Hyalomyodes triangulifer parasitizing the cereal leaf beetIe, Oufema melanopus. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 62:923-924. Williams, R. N., K. V. Miller, and M. J. Weiss. 1981. Parasitism of the picnic beetle, Glis hro­chilus fasciatus (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), by the tachinid, Hyalamyodes triangulifer (Dip­tern: Tachinidae). J. Kans. Entomol. Soc. 54:521-522. 2The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 23, No. 3 [1990], Art. 9https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol23/iss3/9

First Scarab Host for \u3ci\u3eStrongygaster Triangulifer\u3c/i\u3e (Diptera: Tachinidae): the Dung Beetle, \u3ci\u3eAphodius Fimetarius\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Foster Forbes Purrington

Daniel M Pavuk

Rupert P Herd

Benjamin R Stinner

Crossref

 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

ValpoScholar

The Great Lakes Entomologist 
Volume 23 
Number 3 - Fall 1990 Number 3 - Fall 1990 Article 9 
October 1990 
First Scarab Host for Strongygaster Triangulifer (Diptera: 
Tachinidae): the Dung Beetle, Aphodius Fimetarius (Coleoptera: 
Scarabaeidae) 
Foster Forbes Purrington 
The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center 
Daniel M. Pavuk 
The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center 
Rupert P. Herd 
Ohio State University 
Benjamin R. Stinner 
Ohio State University 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle 
 Part of the Entomology Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Purrington, Foster Forbes; Pavuk, Daniel M.; Herd, Rupert P.; and Stinner, Benjamin R. 1990. "First Scarab 
Host for Strongygaster Triangulifer (Diptera: Tachinidae): the Dung Beetle, Aphodius Fimetarius 
(Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 23 (3) 
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol23/iss3/9 
This Peer-Review Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. 
It has been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. 
For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. 
1990 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 171 
FmST SCARAB HOST FOR STRONGYGASTER TRIANGULIFER 
(DIPTERA: TACHINIDAE): THE DUNG BEETLE, APHODIUS 
FIMETARIUS (COLEOPTERA: SCARABAEIDAE)l 
Foster Forbes Purrington2 , Daniel M. Pavuk2 , Rupert P. Herd3, 
and Benjamin R. Stinner2 
ABSTRACT 
We 
report 
Strongygaster (=Hyalomyodes ) triangulifer as a solitary primary 
parasite of the adult introduced dung beetle, Aphodius /imetarius. This is the first 
record of this tachinid fly parastizing scarabs. 
The Old World dung beetle, Aphodius /imetarius (L.) (Coleoptera: Scara­
baeidae), is globally distributed in temperate zones. In northeastern Ohio this spe­
cies is ubiquitous and can be very numerous locally. Adults of both sexes are distinc­
tive among introduced and native Aphodiini by their bright red elytra, black head 
and pronotum, and large size: to 8.5 rom (Blatchley 1910). They reproduce in the 
dung of many herbivorous mammals, especially cattle, and in moist litter. Coloniz­
ing adults tunnel extensively and oviposit in drying dung pats; larvae develop in cells 
within the pat. According to Mohr (1943), A. /imetarius is essentially univoltine; 
adults overwinter in dung, oviposit in spring, and produce an autumn adult cohort. 
We 
obtained ca. 
200 adult A. /imetarius in mid-April 1989 from overwintered 
cattle dung pats in a wooded pasture near Apple Creek, Ohio (Wayne Co.). They 
were held individually in plastic 30 ml cups at room temperature and 600/0 RH. Eight 
of 
these captive beetles produced a single fly larva each. From puparia that subse­
quently formed, adult tachinid flies eclosed in five days (ca. 5 May 
1989) and were 
identified by the USDA Systematic Entomology Laboratory as Strongygaster 
(=
Hyalomyodes) trianguli/er 
(Loew). 
This New World fly typically parasitizes only adult insects [Thompson (1954) 
viewed reports of larval parasitism as abnormal occurrences]. Previously reported 
hosts span a broad phylogenetic range that includes Orthoptera, Dermaptera, 
Hemiptera, Coleoptera, and Lepidoptera (Lange 1950, Sabrosky and Braun 1970, 
Smith and Kok 1983, Kevan and Koshnaw 1988). Our record is the first o  such 
parasitism in a scarab, and with it nine beetle families now contain reported hosts 
for S. triangulifer (Table 1). 
ISalaries and research support provided by State and Federal funds appropriated to the 
Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University. Manuscript 
number 8-90. . 
2Department of Entomology, The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 
Wooster, OH 44691. 
3Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 
OH 
43210. 
1
Purrington et al.: First Scarab Host for <i>Strongygaster Triangulifer</i> (Diptera:
Published by ValpoScholar, 1990
172 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 23, NO.3 
Table 1. - Beetle families containing reported hosts for Strongygaster triangulijer (Loew). 
BEETLE HOST FAMILY REFERENCE 
Lampyridae 
Cleridae 
Meloidae 
Alleculidae 
Nitidulidae 
Coccinellidae 
Chrysomelidae 
Curculionidae 
Braun 1970 
Turnbow and Franklin 1979 
Cortes and Hichins 1969 
Thompson 1954 
Williams et al. 1981 
Thompson 1954, Wellso and Hoxie 1969 
Thompson 1954, Sabrosky and Braun 1970, 
Wellso and Hoxie 1969, Herzog 1977. 
Thompson 1954, Sabrosky and Braun 1970 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
We thank 
C. Britton and P. Sachariat for their excellent bibliographic support. 
N.E. Woodley 
of the USDA Systematic Entomology Laboratory at BeltsYille, MD 
kindly identifi dStro gygast r triangulijer. 
LITERATURE CITED 
Blatchley, W.S. 1910. An illustrated descriptive catalogue of the Coleoptera or beeIles known 
to 
occur in Indiana. Bull. Ind. Dept. Gool. Nat. Resources, L 1386 pp. 
Cortes, R. 
and N. Hichens. 1969. Taquinidos de Chile. Distribuci6n gerogr:ifica y huespedes 
conocidos. Ediciones de la Universidad de Chile. 92 pp. 
Herzog, D. C. 1977. Bean leaf beetle: parasitism by Celatoria diabroticae (Shimer) and Hyalo­
myodes triangulijer (Loew). J. Ga. Entomol. Soc. 12:64-68. 
Kevan, D. K. McE. and R. T. B. Koshnaw. 1988. Hyalomyodes (Diptera: Tachinidae), an 
endoparasite of Tetrigoidea (Orthoptera). Entomol. Rec. 100:55-57. 
Lange, W. H. 1950. Biology and systematics of plume moths of the genus Platyprilia in 
California. Hilgardia 19:561-668. 
Mohr. C. O. 1943. Cattle droppings as ecological units. Eco!. Monogr. 13:275-309. 
Sabrosky, C. W. and B. H Braun. 1970. A tachinid parasite of fireflies (Diptera: Tachlnidae, 
Coleoptera: Lampyridae). Entomol. News 81:185-187. 
Smith, L. M. and L. T. Kok. 1983. Hyalomyodes triangulifer (Diptera: Tachlnidae) parasitizes 
adults of Rhinocyllus conicus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Can. EntomoI. 115:1533-1534. 
Thompson, W. R. 1954. Hyalomyodes triangulifera Loew (Diptera: Tachinidae). Can. Ento­
mol. 86:137-144. 
Turnbow, R. H. and R. T. Franklin. 1977. Hyalomyodes triangulijera (Diptera: Tachlnidae): a 
parasite of the southern pine beetle redator Thanasimus dubius (Coleoptera: Cleridae). Ga. 
EntomoL Soc. 14:174-176. 
Wellso, S.O. and R. P. Hoxie. 1969. Hyalomyodes triangulifer parasitizing the cereal leaf 
beetIe, Oufema melanopus. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 62:923-924. 
Williams, R. N., K. V. Miller, and M. J. Weiss. 1981. Parasitism of the picnic beetle, Glis hro­
chilus fasciatus (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), by the tachinid, Hyalamyodes triangulifer (Dip­
tern: Tachinidae). J. Kans. Entomol. Soc. 54:521-522. 
2
The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 23, No. 3 [1990], Art. 9
https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol23/iss3/9


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First Scarab Host for \u3ci\u3eStrongygaster Triangulifer\u3c/i\u3e (Diptera: Tachinidae): the Dung Beetle, \u3ci\u3eAphodius Fimetarius\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

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