Bee Flies

Bee fly

I saw this little fly flitting around me on the deck on Saturday.  It wouldn't hold still for a picture but I was able to get it in a bug box and chill it for its blog debut.  I sent it in to Bugguide and within 24 hours had an ID of Hemipenthes sp.  Beyond their information, I couldn't find any other details on the genus.

According to the Hemipenthes genus page, its name means "half veiled in black", a good description of the wing pattern.  They range from 6 to 12 mm (mine was 9mm) and have short metallic hairs on the thorax and/or abdomen.  Like other members of the bee fly (Bombyliidae) family, they are ectoparasitoids, laying their eggs near the eggs or larvae of solitary bees, beetles, wasps and other insects.  The bee fly larva lives off the victim, eventually killing it.

Halteres - REK

Bee flies are in the Diptera or true fly order, the common names always separate (think "house fly").  When you see the name one word (think "dragonfly") they belong to another order.  Diptera means "two wings", separating it from the other orders that have two pair of wings.  The posterior set of wings are modified to clubbed sticks called halteres, extending from the thorax.  These vibrate with the wing beats, sending messages to the fly about its position and balance, acting like a gyroscope.  That is one reason they are so hard to swat!

Belly up

Just when I thought I was through, our friend Debbie sent me this photograph to ID.  I used my years of training and experience to identify it within a minute.  (My secret:  Google "black bee fly", look at "images" and it was the 5th on the page.)  This is a Tiger bee fly, Xenox tigrinus.   Like other members of the family, it doesn't sting or bite.  We don't even know what the adult eats!  The good news for homeowners is that it specializes in parasitizing carpenter bees.

Carpenter bees drill smooth holes in wood to lay their eggs in, and have been working on our cabin beam.  Fortunately they don't cause significant structural damage and they are good pollinators.  Still, if the Tiger bee fly wants to feed its young, I will send it our address.

Swinging Fly

Grabbing pollen - Linda Bower

I was intrigued by a video that Linda Bower sent me.  It showed what appeared to be a wasp clinging onto milkweed, swinging like Tarzan with its front legs.  You can see yellow chunks of pollen on its other four legs and I assumed that it was grabbing the pollen grains.  Chris Barnhart informed me that it is actually the pollen grabbing the insect's legs, hitching a free ride to the next flower, an innocent purveyor of plant sex.

This "wasp" is actually a male Thick-headed Fly, Physocephala tibialis, of the family Conopidae.  Most of this family are convincing mimics of thread-waisted wasps (Sphecidae).  They feed on nectar and like bees gather pollen incidentally.

Thick-headed Fly, Physocephala tibialis  - Molly Jacobson

More from Linda:

"This is no ordinary fly! As a parasitoid, this species of Thick-Headed Fly (no common name) deposits its eggs into Bumblebees. It catches the Bumblebee mid-flight, sometimes falling to the ground, the fly inserts a single egg between its abdominal segments. The larva will slowly eat the Bumblebee alive, beginning with the non-essential tissues first. The larva forces the Bumblebee to dig itself into the ground so it can overwinter as a pupa (this is called adaptive manipulation). Adults feed on nectar, as shown in this video of a male filmed on Common Milkweed in the Missouri Ozarks, USA, June 27, 2017. Some clips are in slow motion, none have been sped up."

Stylogaster sp. of thick-headed fly with long ovipositor - MJ Hatfield

Inserting an egg under the exoskeleton of a flying bee is no mean trick.  It is accomplished by the specialized ovipositor which acts like a "church key" on a beer can (before pop-top cans for youthful readers).  The eggs of some species also have a barb, functioning like a harpoon that stays in the bee.

There are a lot of interesting details about how the fly cuts its way out of the pupa and how the bee is tricked into burying itself in the ground.  (Hint - it is adaptive manipulation).  I would explain that, but our friend the Bug Lady does it much more entertainingly in this UWM Bug of the Week blog.

Master Naturalist Training

Like what you see on the blog?
Want to get involved in learning and promoting nature?

Live in the area around Springfield Missouri?

If you think you might be interested in joining the Springfield Plateau Chapter of Master Naturalists, here is your chance.  We will have a new training class this fall.  To learn more, come to one of the two Orientation sessions this month.  Attendance at one of them is required before enrolling in the course.

Where:   MDC Southwest Regional office,
               2630 Mayfair, Springfield, MO

When:
Tuesday, July 11, 7-9PM
Tuesday, July 18, 7-9PM

Attendance at on orientation is a prerequisite for attending the training.

An interesting read:
Just when I thought that choosing paper over plastic is a personal answer to holding down plastic pollution, I read this.  

Hackberry Thorn Galls

Linda Bower sent me these pictures of some cool galls on hackberry leaves. The little spike on top was very distinctive.  I think they are Hackberry Thorn Galls produced by a midge, Celticecis spiniformis.  As is true of many galls, the midge is rarely photographed or identified and they are known by their gall.  In the case of hackberry leaf galls, there are lots of different shapes and I was lucky that this one is so unique with the little horn on top.

View from above - Hershey Kisses? - LB

C. spiniformis was first described in 1895 and by 2011 there were ten Celticecis species described.*  Raymond Gagné and John C. Moser** identified many more and now there are 23 known species of hackberry gall midges in North America, 21 of which are in the Celticecis genus.  They can occur on any of the Hackberry (Celtis) species.

Bisected gall and larva - LB

The galls grow rapidly in spring to early summer.  The larva to the right would ordinarily form a cocoon in the gall.  When the leaf falls to the ground the gall bursts open and the cocoon remains on the ground over winter.  They generally pupate the next spring although some may spend another year in the gall before emerging as adults.  The midges mate in the spring although they are very discrete and have not been filmed doing that.  They lay their eggs on hackberry leaves and the cycle begins again.

*   Charley Eiseman has a set of photographs showing the wide range of unique shapes of Celticecis sp. galls in  Bugtracks.wordpress.com.
** The North American Gall Midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) of Hackberries (Cannabaceae: Celtis spp.)by Raymond J. Gagné and John C. Moser at Darwin.ansp.org

Life on the Edge

Eastern Amberwing dragonfly hunting the pond edge - Perithemis tenera - REK

While I was fishing in a friend's pond the other day he asked what he should do about the thin layer of scum and algae extending a foot or so out from the dam.  I suggested we take a closer look at it.  I came back the next day with a quart jar and a soup ladle and sampled the area.  (Note to self: wash and return ladle to kitchen drawer - quick!)  I spent the next few hours with an inexpensive video microscope, immersed in the world on the edge.

Like other environments, the energy in the pond's food chain begins with the sun.  Photosynthesis creates the energy that all animals consume, whether directly from the source or as a predator eating the primary consumer.  Autotrophs (think plants and algae) produce carbon based nutrients like glucose from the sun.  Heterotrophs obtain it by "eating" plants, organisms or decaying organic matter.  At the top of the food chain, carnivores like me obtain energy from both plants and herbivorous animals.

Six copepods in a tiny droplet - REK

The algae, cyanobacteria and some protists (all referred to as phytoplankton) are busy out of sight fixing carbon and converting sunlight to sugar.  These are consumed by many tiny creatures like case-carrying worms that drift around in the water, extending out of their cases to feed or to pull their cases along in the water as seen in this video by Linda Bower.*  The microscopic spots floating or flitting around in the water are tiny fresh water crustaceans called copepods, as well as other other zooplankton species that also feed on phytoplankton.

Case-carrying worm and Damselfly nymph - REK

Giant water bug - REK

Next up are the aquatic insects such as the mayfly nymphs which feed on algae, diatoms and detritus, the decomposing plant matter that dies or falls into the water's edge.  These supply food for fish, the reason a fisherman ties a nymph on the flyrod.  It is a bug eat bug world in there, filled with predaceous diving beetles and giant water bugs next up in the food chain.

Salamander larva with duckweed.  Note feathery gills - REK

Hardest to catch in the sample were the salamander larvae, 1/2" long and very athletic.  Based on the dorsal fin that begins in front of the hind legs these could be spotted salamanders that will live on land as adults or newts that live on land as teenagers and then return to the pond as adults.

Our brief look into the "scum" along the pond edge only sampled a few of the many species that depend on the vegetation, detritus and algae in that first 12 inches of shoreline.  Tiny frogs and grasshoppers flitted in and out of the water, patrolling dragonflies watched from the distance and dainty damselflies clung to the grass out of reach.  It is all part of life on the edge of a pond.
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I have put together life on the microscope stage in this video including damselfly larvae and snails.
* More sophisticated and fascinating pond video's are in Linda Bower's Youtube Playlist.
7-7-17  Thanks to Rob Hunt, Education Coordinator at DNR for helping to clarify my status as a dedicated heterotroph.

Cute Little Devils

Young Hickory Horned Devil - CB*

Mating pair - Jane Troup

We recently posted Regal Moth and the Devil that featured mating Regal Moths and the Hickory Horned Devil (HHD) caterpillar.  Jane put the mating pair in a paper grocery bag and delivered them to Chris Barnhart (CB) who collected their eggs and raised the caterpillars with the help of some volunteers.  They then went on to star in the Caterpillar Petting Zoo at the Butterfly Festival.*

Newly hatched Hickory Horn Devil meeting its siblings - CB*

Some of the eggs went to Linda Bower, our videographer extraordinaire.  She recorded and edited two amazing videos of the early life of the HHD.  In this first video you will see them hatching from their tiny eggs and erecting their scoli.

Body wall projections - Abigail M. Parker

Not familiar with scoli?  I wasn't either until recently (as in the last 10 minutes).  Many larvae of beetles and moths have hair like projections on their bodies commonly called setae.  These are then classified further by their morphology and used to identify the species.  Our HHD projections are classified as scoli.  Unlike some moth caterpillars which have toxic setae that can cause stinging and burning sensations, the HHD is quite harmless.

Molting Hickory Horn Devil - Linda Bower

Finally, Linda's second HHD video shows a caterpillar molting, quite a feat when you think about all those scoli it has to erect again.  But you have to admit it is really a cute little devil.
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* You can see Chris's selected photographs from the Festival at this link.

Missouri Mussels

Missouri Rive Mussels - USFWS

Ozarks Water Watch newsletter featured a great story about our Ozarks mussels, focusing on how they use lures to "catch" fish that will raise their young.  I can't improve on what Dave Casseletto has written so go just click on the story at this link.

Then for more details, an article in the recent MDC Conservationist magazine goes into greater depth on these fascinating and underrated creatures.  Read the story at this link.