Pelecocera (Pelecocera) tricincta and Pelecocera (Chamaesyrphus) caledonica (Diptera, Syrphidae) reared from Rhizopogon fungal host in Finland

Abstract

MtDNA COI barcodes have frequently been used in identification to associate an unknown life stage in insects with a known species. This study reports the discovery of hoverfly larvae in the fungal fruit bodies of Rhizopogon luteolus Fr. & Nordholm, 1817 in Finland. The identity of the larvae was firstly resolved using mtDNA COI barcodes generated from the larvae and tree-based identification confirming the species Pelecocera (Pelecocera) tricincta Meigen, 1822 and Pelecocera (Chamaesyrphus) caledonica (Collin, 1940) (Diptera, Syrphidae). Obtained pupae were reared into adult flies and produced the same two species. The morphological features of these mycophagous larvae are compared with those of other fungus-feeding hoverfly species. This study confirms Rhizopogon luteolus as fungal host for these Pelecocera species in the Western Palaearctic Region.

Keywords

• mycophagy
• <i>Pelecocera</i>
• <i>Rhizopogon luteol