File:
<milichii.htm> [For educational
purposes only] Glossary <Principal Natural Enemy Groups > <Citations> <Home> |
DIPTERA, Milichiidae -- <Images> & <Juveniles> Adult milichiids consistently feed on insects, and thus
their feeding habits represent a transitional stage between scavenger and
predator. They cannot kill their own
prey but are dependent on other predaceous species for food (Clausen
1940/62). Knab (1915) and De
Peyerimhoff (1917) summarized the food habits of Milichiidae. Quite a few species of Desmometopa are definitely
associated with Asilidae, to which they regularly attach themselves and
maintain their hold until a prey is captured. Other species are more often associated with spiders, although
they do not attach themselves to the body but feed on prey that becomes
entangled in webs, of which most are bees.
The above types of phoresy is an adaptation relating only to the
feeding of adults and thus differs from that found in Scelionidae and other
parasitoids, where the object of the association is to reach the freshly laid
egg mass for oviposition (Clausen 1940/62) References: Please refer to <biology.ref.htm>, [Additional references
may be found at: MELVYL
Library] |