Posted by Sundew on 04-05-2010 15:11
#1
Hi,
Today I photographed a
Juniperus infested with the European Pear Rust (
Gymnosporangium fuscum; syn.
G. sabinae). The fungus produced lots of jelly-like spore tubes (telial horns) that will release spores. At home on the screen I saw that there were several reddish larvae obviously feeding on the telial horns. Can anyone tell me if these are fly larvae and which fly taxa come into question?
Many thanks, Sundew
Posted by Cranefly on 04-05-2010 17:06
#2
They look like Cecidomyiidae. If so, they are to be rather small (3-5 mm) with very small head and have 13 body segments. Many cecidomyiids have small sclerotized narrow sclerite on ventral side of thoracal segments.
Posted by Sundew on 04-05-2010 17:29
#3
That's very interesting! I guess the larvae measured 3 mm at the utmost, probably they were smaller. Quoting Roskam (2005), fungivory is postulated to be the original feeding mode in Cecidomyiidae and gall induction is derived. So my larvae are real coservatives!
Many thanks indeed; I shall pay more attention to this phenomenon in the future.
Regards, Sundew