A Review on Indian Stilt-legged Flies (Insecta: Diptera: Micropezidae)

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1 2015; 2(5): The Journal of Zoology Studies ISSN JOZS 2015; 2(5): JOZS 2015 Received: Accepted: Bulganin Mitra Scientist C Zoological Survey of, Arna Mazumder Post Graduate Department of Zoology, Asutosh College, Kolkata , Udipta Chakraborti Junior Research Fellow Zoological Survey of, Imtiaz Imam Academy of Biodiversity Conservation 297, Bangur Avenue, Kolkata , Souradip Roy Post Graduate Department of Zoology, Vidyasagar College, Kolkata , Corresponding Author: Udipta Chakraborti Zoological Survey of, A Review on n Stilt-legged Flies (Insecta: Diptera: Micropezidae) Authors: Bulganin Mitra, Arna Mazumder, Udipta Chakraborti, Imtiaz Imam, Souradip Roy Abstract Eight species of two genera belonging to the family Micropezidae of the order Diptera are reported from. Highest numbers of species are found in the North-Eastern Region (62.50%) and lowest in Island biogeographic zones (12.50%). So far, nothing has been known from the Himalayan region and Arid, Semi-Arid and Hot deserts. Keywords: Micropezidae, Bio-geographic zones, Abbreviation used: HR: The Himalayan Region; IGP: Indo Gangetic Plains; GPR: The Ghats & Peninsular Regions; ASHD: Arid, Semi-Arid & Hot desert region; NER: North Eastern region; NSL: No specific Locality; TL: Type Locality. 1. Introduction The members of an acalyptrate dipteran family Micropezidae are commonly known as Stiltlegged flies for their characteristic long legs. Usually, the members are often black with infuscated wings [1]. A total of 583 species under 52 genera of five subfamilies have been reported globally [2], and only eight species of two genera were reported from. The greatest diversity of stilt-legged flies can be found in the Neotropics (Central and South America) in comparison to the Oriental region. The majority of stilt-legged flies are found as convincing mimics of Hymenoptera, like ants (Formicidae), ichneumon wasps (Icneumonoidea) and spider wasps (Pompilidae). Badisis ambulans McAlpine, 1990, a species of Micropezidae, is present in nature without any wing and haltare [3]. The classification and list of species of the family is followed after Oriental Catalogue of Diptera [4], Systema Dipterorum [5] and other available literatures. 2. Taxonomic Research Probably, Wiedemann was the first man who described a species of Micropezidae from in the year 1830 [6]. Later the works on micropezid fly was carried out by Doleschall (1856), [7] Schiner(1868) [8], Macquart (1843) [9], and Cresson (1926) [10]. According to Steyskal (1977), seven species were reported from [4]. After that, Datta et al. (1997) [11], Datta and Parui (2000) [12] and Mitra and Parui (2007) [13], Mitra et al. (2015) [14] enriched the micropezid fauna of by adding another species of different distribution in. Page 1

2 3. Distinguishing Characters: The micropezid flies are usually black, slender bodied insect, small to large size (varies between 3-16 mm length), with thin long legs. Their forelegs are much smaller than the other pairs (mid and hind legs). Wings are narrow and patterned. 4. Habit and Habitats Adults are predaceous on small insects and also attracted to the decaying matters. These insects are usually found on leaves, flowers, decaying fruits, excrement, herbages etc. Their habitat is usually Phytotelmata (freshwater habitats common in residential areas, especially in the humid tropics held by living or dead terrestrial plants) [15]. 5. Biology and Economic Importance Rhizome fly, Mimegralla coeruleifrons Macquart, 1843, is reported as the pest of the turmeric [16], ginger [17] etc. and was known to cause heavy loss of turmeric in Maharashtra [18, 19], Andhra Pradesh [20], Tamil Nadu [21, 22], Kerala [23] and Karnataka [24]. Ghorpade et al., (1988), Koya (1989) [25], Kotikal and Kulkarni (2000) [16] had studied on the biology of the Rhizome fly, Mimegralla coeruleifrons Macquart, Apart from this species, no study on biology of Micropezid species were found. Larva is an apodous, transparent maggots which was transparent at the beginning and becomes transleucent and whitish as they grew upper instar stages. The total life-cycle of this species occupied by near about days [16]. The adults were preyed upon spiders and dragonflies [25]. 6. Discussion Recent works of Pape et al. (2011) offer a list of 583 valid and extant species of Micropezidae of 52 genera in the World [2]. Eight species of micropezids belonging to two genera are reported from, which is almost 1.37% of the reported species of the World. One unplaced species were also there, vidua, described from Tranquebar, (present name: Tharangambadi, Tamil Nadu, ) by Wiedemann in the year 1830 [4]. The micropezid are reported only from 11 States and UTs among the 36 States and UTs in (table.1). Assam represents maximum number of Micropezidae about 37.5%, followed by Sikkim (25%), West Bengal (25%), Tamil Nadu (25%), Tripura (12.5%), Mizoram (12.5%), Andhra Pradesh (12.5%), Maharashtra (12.5%), Kerala (12.5%), Karnataka (12.5%) and Andaman & Nicobar Islands (12.5%). One species, among the eight, have no specific locality (12.5%) (Fig 1). Fig 1: Distribution of Micropezidae in different states of (percentage-wise) Among the six major bio-geographic zones of, the maximum number of species are reported from the North-Eastern Region (05 species, 62.5% of reported species), followed by Indo-Gangetic Plains and the Ghats & Peninsular Region (both shares 02 species, 25% of the reported species). The Island biogeographic zone shares only 12.5% of the total species (Fig 2). Nothing has been reported from Arid, Semiarid & hot desert and the Himalayan region. Page 2

3 Fig 2: Distribution of Micropezidae in different Bio-geographic zones of (percentage-wise) Among these eight species of Micropezidae, two species were restricted with in, of which one is unplaced species. Four species are found within Oriental region and two species are extended to Palearctic and Australasian region (Table 1). Table 1: Species list of Micropezidae (Insecta: Diptera) of along with distribution and type-locality. Sl. No Name of the species with Type-locality Cothornobata nigrigenu (Enderlein, 1922) TL: Sikkim; Toungoo, Karenni, Burma, 3000 ft. Mimegralla albitarsis splendens (Wiedemann, 1830) TL: unknown Mimegralla albitarsis stylophora (Schiner, 1868) TL: Nicobar Is.: Milu, Kombul & Sembalong, Nicobar. Mimegralla binghami (Enderlein, 1922) TL: Sikkim, Mimegralla thaiensis Cresson, 1926 TL: Thailand. Trong, Khow Sai Doi (T A USNM) Mimegralla (Grammicomyia) coeruleifrons Macquart, 1843 Distribution (Statewise within ) Sikkim Distribution in different Biogeographic zones of (Alfred et al., 2001) NER Distribution other than Sumatra, Myanmar, Laos (NSL) NSL Sri Lanka Nicobar Islands Islands Restricted within Assam, Sikkim NER Laos Assam NER Malaya, Thailand Assam, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil NER, IGP, GPR Bali, Burma, China [Kwangtung], Flores, Hainan Islands, Java, Page 3

4 7. 8. TL: "New Holland" = error? Mimegralla albimana (Doleschall, 1856) TL: Indonesia. Java: Djokjakarta Unplaced Species of Micropezidae vidua Wiedemann, 1830 Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram Tamil Nadu NER, IGP GPR Malaya, Philippines [Luzon], Sumatra Java, Malaysia, Borneo, Japan, Belau, Guam, Micronesia, Northern Marianas, PNG, Ryukus Restricted within TL: Tranquebar, [Abbreviation used:- TL: Type-locality, NER: North-Eastern Region, NSL: No specific locality, IGP: Indo-Gangetic Plains, GPR: Ghats & Peninsular Region] 7. Conclusion: The present study reveals that, is the least diverse country in the world in relation to faunal composition of Stilt-legged Flies (1.37%) and mostly enriched with Oriental species. The majority of the species (62.5%) were reported from the North-Eastern biogeographic zone and the state of Assam in particular. This review work serves as gaps in knowledge of the micropezid fauna of. Therefore, efforts should be given on survey to the unexplored or under explored areas in and particular in Arid, Semi-arid & hot desert and the Himalayan biogeographic regions. 8. Acknowledgement Authors are grateful to Dr. Kailash Chandra, Directorin-Charge, Zoological Survey of, Kolkata for giving necessary permissions and valuable suggestions. Thanks are also due to Mr. K. C. Gopi, Scientist `F` for kindly going through the manuscript and making useful suggestions. Authors are also thankful to Mr. P. Parui, Retd. Scientist, Zoological Survey of, Kolkata for constant support. 9. References 1. Evenhuis NL. Family Micropezidae. In: Catalog of the Diptera of the Australasian and Oceanian Regions, 1989; Pape T, Blagoderov V, Mostovski MB. Order DIPTERA Linnaeus, In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness. Zootaxa 2011; 3148: McAlpine DK. Review of the Australian stilt flies (Diptera: Micropezidae) with a phylogenetic analysis of the family. Invertebrate Taxonomy, 1998; 12: Steyskal GC. Family Micropezidae. In: A Catalog of the Diptera of the Oriental Region, 1977; Pape T and Evenhuis NL (editors). [June, 2013]. Systema Dipterorum, Version records. accessed on 28/07/ Wiedemann CRW. AussereuropaischezweiflugeligeInsekten. ZweiterTheil. Schulz, Hamm. 1830; xii pp., 5 pls. 7. Doleschall CL Eerstebijdrage tot dekennis der dipterologische fauna van Nederlandsch Indie. Natuurkd Tijdschr. Ned.- Indie 10: , 12 pls. 8. Schiner IR Diptera. vi pp., 4 pls. In [Wullerstorf-Urbair, B. von (in charge)], Reise der osterreichischen Fregatte Novara. Zool. 2(1)B. K. Gerold'sSohn, Wien. 9. Macquart PJM Dipteresexotiques nouveaux oupeuconnus. Tome deuxieme.--3e partie. Roret, Paris. 304 pp., 36 pls. 10. Cresson ET, Jr. Descriptions of new genera and species of Diptera (Ephydridae and Micropezidae). Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. (Phila.), 1926; 52: Datta M, Parui P and Mukherjee M. Insecta: Diptera. In: Fauna of West Bengal, zool. Surv., State Fauna Series, 1997; 3 (7): Datta M and Parui P. Insecta: Diptera. In: Fauna of Tripura, zool. Surv., State Fauna Series, 2000; 7 (3): Mitra B and Parui P. Insecta: Diptera. In: Fauna of Mizoram, zool. Surv., State Fauna Series, 2007; 14 : Mitra B, Parui P, Roy S, Biswas O and Chakraborti U. A note on Stilt-legged Flies (Diptera: Micropezidae) with the First Record of Mimegralla albimana (Doleschall, 1856) Page 4

5 from Sunderban Biosphere Reserve,. Entomology and Applied Science Letters, 2015; 2 (2): Mogi M. Phytotelmata: hidden freshwater habitats supporting unique faunas. In: Freshwater Invertebrates of the Malaysian Region, 2012; Kotikal YK and Kulkarni KA Studies on the biology of Turmeric Rhizome fly. Karnataka J. Agric. Sci., 13(3): Steyskal GC Larvae of Micropezidae (Diptera) including two species that bore in ginger roots. Annals of Entomological Society of America, 57: Khaire SN, Pokharkar RN and Telgeri GM Pests of ginger and turmeric. In: Crop pests and how to fight them, Govt. of Maharashtra book depot, Bombay. p Dhoble SY, Kadam MV and Dethe MD Chemical control of turmeric rhizome fly Mimegralla coeruleifrons Macquart. n Journal of Entomology, 43 : Ramesh P. Rhizome fly, Mimegralla coeruleifrons in Northern Telengana zone of Andhra Pradesh. n farming, 1996; 46: Fletcher TB. Some South n Insects and other animals considered especially from economic point of view. Government Press, Madras, 1914; p Nair MRGK. Insects and mites ofcrops in. n Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. 1975; P Nayar KK, Ananthakrishnan TN and David SV. General and Applied entomology Tata Mc Grew Hill publishing co. Ltd. New Delhi, 1976; p Kotikal YK. Studies on the insect pests of turmeric, Curcuma longa L. with particular reference to the rhizome fly, Mimegralla coeruleifrons Macquart (Micropezidae: Diptera) Ph. D. thesis, Univ. of Agricultural sciences, Dharwad. 1998; P Koya, M. A Bio-ecology of Mimegralla coeruleifrons Macquart (Diptera: Micropezidae) associated with ginger Zingiber officinale Rosc. rhizomes. Entomon, 14: Alfred JRB, Das AK & Sanyal AK. In: Ecosystems of. ENVIS Centre, ZSI, Kolkata, 2001; 1-33, , Mitra B, Mazumder A, Chakraborti U, Imam I, Roy S. A Review on n Stilt-legged Flies (Insecta: Diptera: Micropezidae). Journal of Zoology Studies. 2015; 2(5): ************************************************************ Page 5