Data for the period 18-25 December 2020
- Sample images
- Environmental measurements
- Previous: Araba Bioscan 11-18 December 2020
- Next: Araba Bioscan 25 December 2020 to 1 January 2021
See the Araba Bioscan Project page for background information on the project and methods.
Notes
One of the flies captured this week seems to have been parasitised by a nematode or other “worm” that has apparently hollowed out at least the interior of each compound eye. The fly had no wings remaining and the head was rotated through 180°. Finding information on parasites of insect eyes is very difficult since searches repeatedly return pages on insect parasites of human and animal eyes. Any information on clades that destroy the eyes of flies would be welcome. I assume that the parasite also controlled the fly’s behaviour to climb upward (and fall into the sampling bottle) despite being so badly compromised.
BOLD identification: Monocrepidius exsul
Taxon in COL
Dicranolaius bellulus
BOLD Australia taxon page
