Revision of the Bee-killing Flies, Genus Melaloncha (Insecta: Diptera: Phoridae)

黛布0090031布莱恩·V·布朗博士。洛杉矶县自然历史博物馆的布莱恩·布朗获得了修改Melaloncha属的拨款，Melaloncha通常被称为杀死蜜蜂的苍蝇，这是一大群蜂类苍蝇。所有种类都在南美洲和中美洲发现，所有寄生蜜蜂：大黄蜂、无刺蜜蜂和引进的西方蜜蜂意大利蜜蜂(因此它们是热带国家的潜在农业害虫)。已经描述了32种杀死蜜蜂的苍蝇，但收集到的更多，据估计，重新审查这一迷人的群体最终将涉及多达100种物种。将利用成年苍蝇的结构特征来研究物种之间的关系。这一分析将被用作研究寄主-寄生蜂特化、寄主切换和其他行为特征的框架。将在玻利维亚、哥斯达黎加、巴拿马和巴西进行实地工作，进一步收集与寄主蜜蜂有关的Melaloncha。在野外收集标本将有助于了解寄主-寄生蜂类的关系，允许Melaloncha种的雄性和雌性相关联，并将发现更多的新物种。这项研究的结果将包括两个部分的分类修订，包括物种的描述、关系、物种识别的检索表和CD-ROM上的彩色图像。万维网上的产品将如下：基于网络的交互式识别密钥、每个物种的网页、关于蜂蜂关系的网页(这将对养蜂人和蜜蜂生态学家非常有用)、数字图像档案、寄主寄生蜂名单和文献目录。

DEB 0090031Brian V. BrownDr. Brian Brown of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History has been awarded a grant to revise the genus Melaloncha, commonly known as the bee-killing flies, a large group of phorid flies. All species are found in South and Central America, and all parasitize bees: bumble bees, stingless bees and the introduced western honey bee, Apis mellifera (thus they are potential agricultural pests in tropical countries). Thirty-two bee-killing fly species have been described, but many more have been collected and it is estimated that re-examination of this fascinating group will ultimately involve as many as 100 species. Relationships among the species will be investigated using structural characters of adult flies. This analysis will be used as a framework for examining host-parasitoid specialization, host switching and other behavioral traits. Field work to make further collections of Melaloncha associated with their host bees will be conducted in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Panama, and Brazil. Collecting of specimens in the field will result in knowledge of host-parasitoid relationships, allow males and females of Melaloncha species to be associated and will uncover further new species. Results from this study will include a taxonomic revision in two parts, including descriptions of species, relationships, keys for the identification of species, and color images on CD-ROM. Products on the World Wide Web will be the following: a web-based interactive identification key, web pages for each species, a web page for phorid-bee relationships (which will be extremely useful to beekeepers and bee ecologists), a digital image archive, a host-parasitoid list and a catalog with literature.