User:CKAbegg/sandbox

Toxomerus Rough Draft

Common Names: Flower fly, Hoverfly

Identified Species: 100 - 150

Spatial Distribution: Majority of species found in tropics of North & South America


 * 3 species live in northeastern North America
 * 4 species in southern Florida
 * 2 species live in western North America
 * Invasive to Africa

The majority of species are 6-9 mm in length. However, the largest, Toxomerus Insignis, is 13 mm long and found throughout the Northeastern part of North America. Most toxomerus species are found with various unique yellow and black abdominal patterns. These color patterns mimic bee abdominal patterns, but toxomerus are actually hoverflies. What distinguishes toxomerus from other hoverflies is the indent located behind the back of their eyes and their unique patterns located on their abdomen. The patterns found on the abdomen are used to identify the toxomerus at the species level. Eyes are large (taking up approximately 2/3 of head) and range from red to black in color. They have one pair of transparent wings and three pairs of legs. [1] Males and females can be distinguished by the spacing of their eyes with males having tightly packed bulbous eyes and females having more space showing their ocelli.[5]

Species

 * T. aeolus (Hull, 1942)
 * T. anthrax
 * T. antiopa
 * T. apegiensis (Harbach, 1974)
 * T. aquilinus (Sack, 1941)
 * T. arcifer (Loew, 1866)
 * T. aurulentus
 * T. basalis
 * T. bistrigus
 * T. boscii Macquart, 1842
 * T. brevifacies
 * T. buscki
 * T. calceolatus
 * T. centaureus *T. ciliatus
 * T. circumcinctus
 * T. claracuneus
 * T. confusus Schiner, 1868)
 * T. corbis (Walker, 1852)
 * T. costalis
 * T. crockeri
 * T. croesus
 * T. difficilis (Curran, 1930)
 * T. dispar (Fabricius, 1794)
 * T. duplicatus
 * T. ectypus
 * T. ecuadoreus
 * T. elinorae
 * T. elisa
 * T. ferroxida
 * T. flaviplurus
 * T. floralis (Fabricius, 1798)
 * T. funestus
 * T. geminatus (Say, 1823)
 * T. guttifer
 * T. hieroglyphicus
 * T. hulli
 * T. idalius
 * T. incaicus
 * T. insignis
 * T. intermedius
 * T. jussiaeae Vige, 1939
 * T. lacrymosus
 * T. laenas
 * T. linearis
 * T. lunus
 * T. marginatus (Say, 1823)
 * T. minutus
 * T. multipunctatus
 * T. musicus
 * T. mutuus
 * T. nasutus
 * T. nigripunctus
 * T. nitidus
 * T. norma
 * T. nymphalius
 * T. occidentalis Curran, 1922
 * T. ochraceus
 * T. ophiolinea
 * T. ornithoglyphus
 * T. ovatus
 * T. pallipes
 * T. papaveroi Borges & Couri, 2009
 * T. paragrammus
 * T. parvulus (Loew, 1866)
 * T. pichinchae
 * T. pictus (Macquart, 1842)
 * T. politus (Say, 1823)
 * T. polygraphicus
 * T. porticola
 * T. procrasinatus Metz, 2001
 * T. productus
 * T. puellus
 * T. pulchellus
 * T. purus
 * T. quinquecinctus
 * T.quinquemaculatus
 * T. rohri
 * T. rombicus
 * T. saphiridiceps
 * T. schlingeri
 * T. sedmani Harbach, 1984
 * T. serpentinus
 * T. steatogaster (Hull, 1941)
 * T. sylvaticus
 * T. taenius
 * T. teligera (Fluke, 1953)
 * T. tibicen (Wiedemann, 1830)
 * T. tubularius
 * T. una
 * T. undecimpunctatus
 * T. uranius
 * T. valdesi
 * T. vertebratus
 * T. verticalis (Curran, 1927)
 * T. veve
 * T. vierecki
 * T. violaceus
 * T. virgulatus (Macquart, 1850)
 * T. watsoni (Curran, 1930)
 * T. willistonii

Adult Diet: Pollen & Nectar

Larvae Diet: Soft bodied insects such as Hemiptera, Acari, and Lepidoptera larvae

Distinguishing marks from other hoverflies: indent in the back of eyes and unique patterns on abdomen

Physical Identifiers: Large eyes. Different species can be found with various shades of blue, red, orange, yellow, and brown resembling striped markings commonly seen in bees, however within these stripe like markings have additional patterns within them which can be used to identify exact species

Behavior

Known Predators/Prey

Effective Pollinators

Life cycle

Habitat

Interesting history

Proposed Table of Contents (based Wiki for bees): <- our goal

1 Evolution 1.1 Coevolution 1.2 Phylogeny Find/create phylogenetic tree? What makes them different from related taxa? See tree in Jordaens, Kurt, et al. 2 Description Identification, physical characteristics, geographic range? Find/create map 3 Sociality 4 Biology 4.1 Life cycle 4.2 Flight 4.3 Navigation, communication, and finding food 5 Ecology 5.1 Floral relationships 5.2 Predators, parasites and pathogens 6 Bees and humans 6.1 As pollinators or food sources or medicine 6.2 Ecosystem services 6.3 Human culture?

Ecology:

Not all of Toxomerus species have been properly classified, though over 130 Neotropical species and 6 endemic Nearctic species are known (Mengual 2011). Toxomerus species are the most abundant hoverflies (or syrphid flies) in the Americas (Metz and Thompson, 2001). Toxomerus marginatus is the most ubiquitous species in the North, brooding multiple times per year (polyvoltine). Toxomerus dispar is the most common in the tropics, though T. pulchellus is more common in some areas.

Toxomerus is a genus of insects within the family Syrphidae (Flower flies; hoverflies), which is predominately composed of species that rear predatory larvae (Proctor et al., 1996, cited by Jordaens et al., 2015) that typically feed on aphids. Predatory Toxomerus larvae have been found to feed on Hemiptera, Araci, and Thysanoptera insects, along with Lepidoptera larvae. Toxomerus species are usually about 6 mm, though some species have been found to be larger than 9 mm. Both molecular and morphological analysis have been used to establish Toxomerus monophyly.

Toxomerus is largely a predatory group, with the known exceptions of three species: Toxomerus apegiensis, Toxomerus politus (Reemer and Rotheray, 2009), and Toxomerus floralis (Jordaens et al., 2015).T. politus larvae feed on the pollen of Zea Mays (corn), and T. apegiensis larvae feed on the pollen of Olyra obliquifolia (bamboo). T. floralis, the larvae of which feed on pollen from Cyperus rotundus (Java grass) and Mitracarpus hirtus (tropical girdleweed), is the only known species within the Syrphidae family whose larvae feeds on plants from different families (Jordaens et al., 2015). Generally, little information is known about the larval biology of Taxomerus species. Research suggests that other phytophagous Toxomerus species may be found by searching plants related to rainforest Olyra species.

This paper documents the pollen foraging behavior in Toxomerus politusadults and larvae on Sorghum in the neotropics of Brazil. It also looks into the sex ratios of floral visitation of foraging adults. This species is interesting as they feed on pollen as opposed to the majority of the species in the genus which are predatory. It would be interesting to see if herbivory evolved later in the lineage or if it is an ancestral trait. Another thing to note is that Sorghum is dominantly wind pollinated, but is able to be pollinated by T. politus. (Nunes-Silva, Patrícia, et al.)

This paper looks into the larval feeding behavior and morphology in T. apegiensisand T. politusin the countries of Suriname, United States of America, and Venezuela. A few other Toxomerus species are referenced and their morphology is compared based on their diets. (Reemer, Menno, and Graham E. Rotheray.)

This paper discusses the larval pollen feedings habits of Toxomerus floralis in the tropics of West and Central Africa (Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon). The sequenced populations of T. floralisare 100% similar to the populations in South America. The species was introduced to the continent. It is the 2nd known non-African hoverfly species to establish in Africa. Their full range on the continent is currently unknown. They eat pollen from the Cyperaceae and Orobranchaceae families and prey on Aphididae and Delphacidae species. (Jordaens, Kurt, et al.)

References:

Mengual, X. 2011. Black-tie dress code: two new species of the genus Toxomerus (Diptera, Syrhidae). ZooKeys 140: 1–26 (2011) doi: 10.3897/zookeys.140.1930 www.zookeys.org.

Metz, M., Thompson, C. 2001. A revision of the larger species of Toxomerus (Diptera: Syrphidae) with description of a new species. Studia dipterologica 8, 225-256.

Reemer, M., & Rotheray, G. E. (2009). Pollen feeding larvae in the presumed predatory syrphine genus Toxomerus Macquart (Diptera, Syrphidae). Journal of Natural History, 43(15/16), 939–949. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222930802610576

Nunes-Silva, Patrícia, et al. "Pollenivory in larval and adult flower flies: pollen availability and visitation rate by Toxomerus politus Say (Diptera: Syrphidae) on sorghum Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench (Poaceae)." Studia dipterologica 17.1/2 (2010): 177-185.

Reemer, Menno, and Graham E. Rotheray. "Pollen feeding larvae in the presumed predatory syrphine genus Toxomerus Macquart (Diptera, Syrphidae)." Journal of Natural History43.15-16 (2009): 939-949.

Jordaens, Kurt, et al. "A second New World hoverfly, Toxomerus floralis (Fabricius)(Diptera: Syrphidae), recorded from the Old World, with description of larval pollen-feeding ecology." Zootaxa4044.4 (2015): 567-576.

Nunes-Silva, Patrícia, et al. "Pollenivory in larval and adult flower flies: pollen availability and visitation rate by Toxomerus politus Say (Diptera: Syrphidae) on sorghum Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench (Poaceae)." Studia dipterologica 17.1/2 (2010): 177-185.

This paper documents the pollen foraging behavior in Toxomerus politus adults and larvae on Sorghum in the neotropics of Brazil. It also looks into the sex ratios of floral visitation of foraging adults. This species is interesting as they feed on pollen as opposed to the majority of the species in the genus which are predatory. It would be interesting to see if herbivory evolved later in the lineage or if it is an ancestral trait. Another thing to note is that Sorghum is dominantly wind pollinated, but is able to be pollinated by T. politus.

Reemer, Menno, and Graham E. Rotheray. "Pollen feeding larvae in the presumed predatory syrphine genus Toxomerus Macquart (Diptera, Syrphidae)." Journal of Natural History43.15-16 (2009): 939-949.

This paper looks into the larval feeding behavior and morphology in T. apegiensis and T. politus in the countries of Suriname, United States of America, and Venezuela. A few other Toxomerus species are referenced and their morphology is compared based on their diets.

Jordaens, Kurt, et al. "A second New World hoverfly, Toxomerus floralis (Fabricius)(Diptera: Syrphidae), recorded from the Old World, with description of larval pollen-feeding ecology." Zootaxa 4044.4 (2015): 567-576.

This paper discusses the larval pollen feedings habits of Toxomerus floralis in the tropics of West and Central Africa (Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon). The sequenced populations of T. floralis are 100% similar to the populations in South America. The species was introduced to the continent. It is the 2nd known non-African hoverfly species to establish in Africa. Their full range on the continent is currently unknown. They eat pollen from the Cyperaceae and Orobranchaceae families and prey on Aphididae and Delphacidae species.

Toxomerus duplicatus Wiedemann, 1830 (Diptera: Syrphidae) preying on Microtheca spp. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) larvae. <- this talks about larval predation role in IPM https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25296215

The Relationship between Morphological and Behavioral Mimicry in Hover Flies (Diptera: Syrphidae) Heather D. Penney, Christopher Hassall, Jeffrey H. Skevington, Brent Lamborn and Thomas N. Sherratt The American Naturalist Vol. 183, No. 2 (February 2014), pp. 281-289 <- behavior traits https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/674612?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Pollenivory in larval and adult flower flies:pollen availability and visitation rate byToxomerus politusSAY (Diptera: Syrphidae)on sorghum Sorghum bicolor (L.) MOENCH (Poaceae)<- lifecycle & pollination http://www.uoguelph.ca/canpolin/Publications/NunesSilva_et_al2010.pdf

VISITATION,EFFECTIVENESS,AND EFFICIENCY OF15GENERAOF VISITORS TO WILD RADISH,RAPHANUSRAPHANISTRUM(BRASSICACEAE)1HEATHERF. SAHLI2ANDJEFFREYK. CONNERAmerican Journal of Botany 94(2): 203–209. 2007.<- pollination

https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/17097/ent_FCT_91.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

https://www.inaturalist.org/posts/14985-identifying-toxomerus-hoverflies<- species identification and distribution with many more references included

Article Evaluation - "Western Honey Bee-" the global distribution picture is misleading; it shows that Apis M. don't live in the center of Africa or Alaska but I am most certain that this is not true. In the second paragraph of the the "life cycle" section it says that when the old queen leaves with a swarm that she takes two thirds of the adult population with her BUT in the "queens" section it says that the queen takes about half, this is repeated information that doesn't agree. There is repeating information within the "Queens" section as well. Besides that this is a very thorough article and I enjoyed reading it.