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NEW OR LITTLE KNOWN FEEDING HABITS IN EMPIDIDAE (DIPTERA)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

J. A. Downes  and
S. M. Smith
J. A. Downes
Affiliation:
Entomology Research Institute, Canada Department of Agriculture, Ottawa
S. M. Smith
Affiliation:
Entomology Research Institute, Canada Department of Agriculture, Ottawa
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Abstract

Most Empididae are predators on living insects, but a few instances of other feeding habits have been discovered. It is shown that Anthalia bulbosa (Ocydromiinae) eats the pollen of several flowers, and other possible cases of pollen-eating in Ocydromiinae and Empidinae are discussed. Micropborus obscurus (Empidinae) feeds on dead insects trapped in spiders’ webs, in agreement with Laurence’s finding for M. crassipes; and several reports of Clinoceratinae feeding on dead insects at the water’s edge are assembled. This diversity of feeding habit finds a parallel in Ceratopogonidae.In Empididae the protein-rich meal, whether of insect prey, dead insects, or dead pollen, is taken in typical cases by both males and females, as would be expected on systematic grounds. The sexual differentiation of hunting and feeding habits (males hunting, perhaps not feeding; females non-hunting, receiving prey by transfer at mating) is a specialized feature restricted to the Empis–Hilara–Rhamphomyia group (Empidinae).

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 101 , Issue 4 , April 1969 , pp. 404 - 408
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1969

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