Aphid predator: fly larva

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ironman_br
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Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:24 am

Post by ironman_br »

Great capture! Thanks to share photos and info!
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"If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough."
Robert Capa

Harold Gough
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Post by Harold Gough »

This was posted before I joined.

The larva looks very much like that of an aphidophagous syrphid but is less dorsolaterally flatted and those horns separate it straight away.

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Harold Gough wrote:The larva looks very much like that of an aphidophagous syrphid but is less dorsolaterally flatted and those horns separate it straight away.
So, do the horns help to identify what it is, or just what it is not?

I'm still not even sure this thing is a fly larva!

--Rik

Harold Gough
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Post by Harold Gough »

Rik,

I am not a dipterist but I think your answer lies here:

http://www.cottoncrc.org.au/content/Ind ... erfly.aspx

Your larva seems to be a Leucopis.

Aphidoletes aphidimyza larva are orange but the orange part of yours is an internal structure.

The pointed front end, including the head, of these dipteran larvae is made posible by slender, internal, stylet-shaped, piercing mouthparts.

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Thanks for the suggestion, Harold.

It seems that a rearing project is called for, if I should ever run across another one of these.

--Rik

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