The Natural History of Hoverflies
The Natural History of Hoverflies
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作者：
G. Rotheray;F. Gilbert
食蚜蝇是有价值的昆虫，特别是在过去的二十年里，它们已经开始影响更广泛的人群，而不仅仅是专家。食蚜蝇之所以被人们所熟知和认可，不仅是因为它们引人注目的颜色、非凡的盘旋行为和访花习惯，还因为它们在提供生态、环境、经济和服务方面的作用。它们的生态和经济作用和服务集中在它们为自然和农业系统中的植物授粉的能力以及掠食性幼虫的能力，这些幼虫通过攻击绿蝇和介壳虫等吸汁害虫来减少栽培植物的经济损失。食蚜蝇的价值还涉及以植物为食的食蚜蝇幼虫，它们要么作为潜在的杂草控制剂，要么偶尔作为害虫本身。其他服务包括具有完全不同生活方式的幼虫，它们是各种陆地栖息地的回收者，以及它们作为农业和工业过程中的有机废物堆肥剂的潜力尚未开发。环境食蚜蝇非常重要，因为在许多栖息地中，它们由具有不同专业水平和/或特有物种的群体组成，这些物种本身具有生物多样性重要性，或者可以充当气候变化和栖息地或场地质量的指标和监测器。一些食蚜蝇具有保护意义，因为不幸的是，它们受到人类活动的威胁，需要采取行动确保它们的生存。因此，它们可以充当整个社区和功能群体的代表，这样通过保护它们，许多其他野生动物也得到了保护。食蚜蝇研究在过去 20 年经历了复兴，这是由于人们更好地认识和理解了这些生态、环境和经济作用和服务，极大地提高了对基本物种分类学的理解，特别是在欧洲，以及应用新技术研究食蚜蝇，例如使用系统发育学和 DNA 测序评估其进化关系。食蚜蝇多种多样且美丽，它们的习性和行为激发了人们的惊奇和好奇。许多人对食蚜蝇产生了兴趣，并积极为这些色彩缤纷且普遍有益的昆虫的集体知识的不断增长但仍然充满差距的知识做出贡献。更多的人听说过食蚜蝇，甚至可能能够认出它们，但除此之外，食蚜蝇仍然是一个谜。迄今为止，食蚜蝇是少数几个越来越有吸引力但没有专门介绍其自然历史的书籍的昆虫之一。本书的目的是填补这一空白，通过介绍食蚜蝇的主要特征、属性、习性和行为，将读者带入食蚜蝇的世界。
Hoverflies are valuable insects and particularly over the last two decades, they have started to impact on a wider range of people than just specialists. Hoverflies are known and recognised not just for their striking colours, remarkable hovering behaviour and flower visiting habits but also because of their roles in providing ecological, environmental, economic and services. Their ecological and economic roles and services centre on their ability to pollinate plants in both natural and agricultural systems and predatory larvae that reduce economic losses in cultivated plants by attacking sap-sucking pests like greenfly and scale insects. Hoverfly values also involve plant feeding hoverfly larvae, either as potential agents of weed control or, occasionally, as being pests themselves. Additional services include larvae that have a completely different way of life and are recyclers in a wide range of terrestrial habitats and to their largely untapped potential as composters of organic wastes from agricultural and industrial processes. Environmentally hoverflies are of importance because in many habitats, they consist of groups with varying levels of specialism and/or endemic species that are of biodiversity significance in themselves or that can act as indicators and monitors of climate change and habitat or site quality. Some hoverflies are of conservation significance because, unfortunately, they are endangered by human activities and require action to ensure their survival. As such, they can act as proxy for whole communities and functional groups so that by conserving them, much other wildlife is also conserved. Hoverfly research has undergone a renaissance over the past 20 years which is due to a better realisation and understanding of these ecological, environmental and economic roles and services, vastly improved understanding of basic species taxonomy particularly in Europe, and application of new techniques for investigating hoverflies, such as assessing their evolutionary relationships using phylogenetics and DNA sequencing. Hoverflies are diverse and beautiful and their habits and behaviour provoke both wonder and curiosity. Many people have developed an interest in hoverflies and actively contribute to the growing but still, gap-riddled, collective knowledge of these colourful and generally beneficial insects. A much greater number of people have heard of hoverflies and may even be able to recognise them but beyond this, hoverflies remain a mystery. Until now hoverflies are one of the few insect groups with a growing appeal but with no book devoted to their natural history. The aim of this book is to fill this gap and to take readers into the world of hoverflies by giving an account of their major features, attributes, habits and behaviour.