User:Jm1806/sandbox

The Toxmerus article is lacking in most of the information one would expect to find about the species. Some things I can add to the article could include physical characteristics, life history, ecology, and range distribution. I'm working with Ameen and Chelsea.

Rough Draft:

https://www.inaturalist.org/posts/14985-identifying-toxomerus-hoverflies

^^ this link is like the holy grail of species identification in NA i believe we will need.

Common Names: Flower fly, Hoverfly

Identified Species: 100 - 150

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

3 species live in northeastern North America

2 species live in western North America

Invasive to Africa

Size: Most species are 6-9 mm in length

Adult Diet: Pollen & Nectar

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

Distinguishing marks from other hover flies: indent in the back of eyes and unique pattern 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?

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

Toxomerus species are the most abundant hoverflies (or syrphid flies) in the Americas (Metz and Thompson, 2001). Taxomerus 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 largely a predatory group, with the exceptions of two species: Toxomerus apegiensis and Toxomerus politus (Reemer and Rotheray, 2009). Little information is known about the larval biology of Taxomerus species, except that most are predatory. Research suggests that other phytophagous species may be found by searching plants related to O. obliquifolia, which are rainforest-adapted grasses. It has also been suggested that studying the grass genus Olyra may lead to finding more phytophagous Toxmerus species.

Not all of Toxomerus species have been properly classified, though over 130 Neotropical species and 6 endemic Nearctic species are known (Mengual 2011). Predatory Toxomerus larvae typically 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.

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.)

Potential Table of Contents (based Wiki for bees):


 * 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?

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.

Personal Sources:

'''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.