PLANT PROTECTION 1 – Pests, Diseases and Weeds

PLANT PROTECTION 1 – Pests, Diseases and Weeds
ORDER DIPTERA
Flies, gnats, leafminers, midges, mosquitoes
NO. SPECIES
IN AUSTRALIA
SOME
DISTINCTIVE
FEATURES
More than 8,000 species have been identified in Australia.
www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/diptera.html
www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_flies/index.html
Lucid key On The Fly - The Interactive Atlas and Key to Australia Fly Families
www.lucidcentral.org/
Members of this order are fairly similar in appearance.
ADULT Wings 1. One pair of membraneous forewings. Do not confuse
flies with wasps which have 2 pairs of wings.
2. Hindwings reduced to small club-like structures
(halteres) are used as stabilisers during flight.
3. Some species are wingless.
Eyes
Mouth
Usually large compound eyes, each eye has up to
4000 lens. Can see movements quickly.
1. Varies among different families, but usually used
for sucking up liquid (except for carnivorous types).
2. In some families, eg mosquitoes, the mouth has
been adapted for piercing.
LARVA Legs No true legs, often called a ‘maggot’.
Head
Mostly very reduced head capsule.
LIFE CYCLE
There is a complete metamorphosis - egg, larva (maggot), pupa and
adult (fly).
Queensland
fruit fly
4-5 mm long
Many variations,
eg bean fly,
cineraria leafminer,
fungus gnats,
garden maggots
METHOD OF
FEEDING
ADULT
LARVA
Sucking and sometimes piercing. Feeds on liquids.
Liquid diet. Some predatory larvae have mandibles, eg hover flies.
Larvae eat the food they hatch on (carefully selected by the mother fly).
Insects and allied pests - Diptera (flies) 65