Another parasitic fly from a W/C Aphonopelma henzi.

codykrr · Feb 1, 2010

ok so a while back(august i belive) i posted some pictures of a maggot coming out of a baby wild caught Aphonopelma henzi. well it turned out to be some kind of unidentified small headed fly. i say unknow because no one i asked seemed to have ever seen one like it before.

well tonight i had another one emerge from another A. henzi. same sp. too.

let me set the mood.

about 1 month ago i noticed that my 1.5 inch A. henzi sling had completly burrowed itself. no worries. normal behavoir. well i continued to mist occasionally anyway. and now tonight i go back to check everybody and i see another small headed fly on the surface of the soil.

now the fly itself is mobile, but seems weak, and dying. from research ive done in the past these flies may only have 7 days as an adult. anyway. im going to try this again.

does ANYONE have any idea what species of fly this is? here are some pictures.(oh and im assuming this one is female due to the bigger size than the last one i had emerge)

any help is appreciated.

blazetown · Feb 1, 2010

Very weird. Looks like a mixture of parasitic wasp and drone fly.

codykrr · Feb 1, 2010

all i know is that its probaly from the family Acroceridae

Exo · Feb 1, 2010

codykrr said:
all i know is that its probaly from the family Acroceridae

Your probably right, but I did a search and the closest thing I could find was Acrocera orbicula.....but it's native to Portugal.

codykrr · Feb 1, 2010

yeah i have searched and searched. even the missouri extension has no clue what it is...

as far as i know its probly and undescribed sp. untill proven other wise thats what im saying.

anyone know of a fly specialist? i have 2 specimen's now and i belive there are male and female.

i remember reading on AB that someone was a fly expert but i cant remember who.

codykrr · Feb 1, 2010

also as you can tell it looks like a honey bee mimic. and for the family its not uncommon to mimic wasps or bee's

BiologicalJewels · Feb 1, 2010

I would check Pterondontia sp.

codykrr · Feb 1, 2010

nope not it either...

codykrr · Feb 1, 2010

hmmm...could it possibly be an Ocnaea*sequoia?

here are pictures of a male and female.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/159944/bgpage

only think that bothers me is the 2 specimen in the picture are 1. found in california. 2. do not look exactly like what i have.

hamfoto · Feb 1, 2010

If you would like to possibly be a part of scientific note...I would contact Hank Guarisco. He's an arachnologist living in Kansas. I'm sure that he would be incredibly interested in your findings and could help write up a note for the Journal of Arachnology.
We know that things like this do parasitize arachnids...but I've never seen a paper that describes a Dipteran parasite of a tarantula, here in the US.

You need to get the info out there!

Chris

Jilly1337 · Feb 1, 2010

Does it kill the T's when it emerges?

codykrr · Feb 1, 2010

yes, as far as i know. the adults mate, then the female lays about a dozen eggs in a humid spot near the ground. usually under a rock, or in a tarantula burrow. the eggs hatch into larvea that then crawl onto the host(in this case an A. henzi) and burro into either the book lungs, or the thin membrane behind the joints of the legs. either way the maggot works its way into the abdomen of the spider and lives off the host untill it makes the host burrow down and seal its self off. the tarantula lays dead while the maggot emerges. then the rather large maggot pupates for about 1 week. and emerges into an adult which may only live a few hours to 3 weeks. this sp. i have seems to only live for about 3 days tops.

so yes the tarantula or spider always dies.

also in some cases the larvea may stay in the host for about 4 years before emerging. in the two A. henzi's case id estimate 2 to 3 years due to the size of the spider and the time it takes to get that size. 1 inch in the wild 2 years. 1.5 inch 2.5 to 3 years.

sad to see such a slow growing spider become a victim to a parasite that only lives a few weeks tops.

codykrr · Feb 1, 2010

Chris,

i documented the first one that emerged from a 1 inch specimen. i got the maggot to the adult stage.il try and post pics in a bit.

ok i feel so stupid! i searched and found the first documented thread, but i deleted the pics from the thread! and from my camera!

:wall::wall:

ZergFront · Feb 1, 2010

codykrr said:
Chris,

i documented the first one that emerged from a 1 inch specimen. i got the maggot to the adult stage.il try and post pics in a bit.

ok i feel so stupid! i searched and found the first documented thread, but i deleted the pics from the thread! and from my camera!:wall::wall:

Were you the one that got the emerald green small-headed fly or was that somebody else?

That is one creepy insect. I assume the tarantula was wild caught?

codykrr · Feb 1, 2010

no i was not the one with the green small headed fly, though i have saw a metallic green small headed fly here in missouri.

and yes...i already stated it was wild caught.

codykrr · Feb 1, 2010

ok so here are some pics of the 2 specimen i have side by side and by a nickle for size comparison. the one on the left is what i belive to be a male, and is also the first one i had emerge. the second one of the right is what i belive is a female due to its larger size. and was the second to emerge.

also notice how both are very similar to a honey bee.

esotericman · Feb 1, 2010

Bugguide.net is populated by quite a few entomologists but I'd go with Chris' suggestion.

I believe I have seen dipterans reported in North American theraphosids, but it's going to have to wait until this semester is over for me to look. Blech.

Great stuff, thanks for sharing and the efforts.

codykrr · Feb 2, 2010

it just saddens me that i deleted the first documentation. i cant belive i erased all the the pictures. i had pics of the parastic maggot actually coming out of the abdomen, the thing crawling around, and the pupation stage. along with the adult.

currently im hoping to actually I.D. the species. along with contacting Hank Guarisco. as soon as i figure out how.

the specimen was found at the last years bug hunt, i collected 4 tarantulas. the two slings, and two juviniles.

BrianS, and Backwoods(aka Eric) said that they had saw other species of small headed fly. they described it as a "big green fly" which i have seen here in missouri myself. they said they fliped a large rock to find a dead A. henzi which looked as if something had crawled out of. they also said thats where they saw the big green fly.

this next summer im going to probly go back and see if i cant collect a few more specimens. ranging from 1 to 2 inches. and see if any more emerge from the tarantula.

Stan Schultz · Feb 8, 2010

codykrr said:
yeah i have searched and searched. even the missouri extension has no clue what it is...

Did you ever hunt up Dr. Evert Schlinger (http://www.inhs.illinois.edu/research/therevid/ev.html)?

Or, http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images

You may not be able to locate him, but maybe you can find a grad student or former colleague who can help you.

codykrr · Feb 14, 2010

well i have some excellent news. Thanks to Chris(Hamfoto) i was able to contact Hank. who is a scientist in Kansas. He said he would like to write a scientific note with me as the coauthor. so be on the look out in the future for a paper wrote up about it!

Thanks Chris for pointing me in the right direction!

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