Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Parasitoid sarcophagid (I think)
Posted by Rui Andrade on 21-02-2008 12:56
#1
My brother, some 3 or 4 years ago, found a partially crushed cockroach (maybe Blatta orientalis) in Barcelos, Portugal and gave it to me. When it died I kept it in a box. Several months later I found, in the box, many flies like the one you see in the pictures below. I think it's a sarcophagid, can anyone provide some insight about the species?
Posted by Zeegers on 21-02-2008 18:50
#2
Yes, it is Sarcophagidae, Sarcophaga s.l.
Not parasitic. The larvae must have entered the roach after its death.
I know, the box was closed, but larvae are small and mobile.
Theo
Posted by Rui Andrade on 21-02-2008 20:52
#3
Well, this was a surprise to me, I really thought they were parasitoids:o.
Thank you for helping me Theo:).
Posted by Tony Irwin on 21-02-2008 21:54
#4
If the cockroach was partially crushed, it may have been open to attack by a
Sarcophaga - some species are known to invade moirbund snails, for instance, and even to cause myiasis in humans. In this sense, it could have been a faculative parasitoid, but Theo is correct that they are not normally parasitoids of arthropods.
Posted by Rui Andrade on 21-02-2008 22:15
#5
Thank you for your intervention Tony.