title: Host-seeking behavior in larvae of the robber fly Mallophora ruficauda (Diptera: Asilidae).
abstract: The robber fly Mallophora ruficauda is the most important pest of apiculture in the Pampas region of Argentina. Adults prey on honeybees and other insects, while larvae parasitize larvae of scarab beetles, which live underground. Females of M. ruficauda do not search for hosts but instead lay eggs in tall pastures. Once hatched, larvae drop to the ground and burrow underground to search for their hosts. We tested in the laboratory whether larvae of M. ruficauda actively search for their hosts using host and/or host-related chemical cues. We report that M. ruficauda detects its host using chemical cues that originate in the posterior half of the host's body, most likely from an abdominal exocrine structure. This particular host-searching strategy is described for the first time in Asilidae.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Fisiología de Insectos, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina. mcastelo@uolsinectis.com.ar
authors.forename: Marcela K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Castelo
authors.forename: Claudio R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Lazzari
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000469:parasitology; D003463:Cues; D004175:Diptera / Q000502:physiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology