Prosena siberita explained

Prosena siberita is a species of fly in the family Tachinidae.^{[1] [2]}

Distribution

This species is present in most of Europe,^[3] Central Asia, Japan, Mongolia, China, Russia, Transcaucasia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Ryukyu Islands, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Australia and New Caledonia. It has been introduced and established in United States.^{[4] [5]} The earliest introduction occurred in 1925, when numerous specimens were released in New Jersey for the purpose of establishing a local population to combat the spread of the Japanese beetle.^[6]

Description

Prosena siberita can reach a body length of 7.5-. These flies have a grey dusted, fuscous or testaceour body. In males the abdomen is largely testaceous, while in females it is fuscous, densely grey dusted. Thorax shows some yellowish hairs. They have a very long and slender proboscis that they keep hinged under the body. The length of the proboscis is longer than the height of the head. Palpi are highly reduced. Eyes are reddish-brown and bare. Femora are reddish. Wings are hyaline, yellowish-brown at the base.^{[7] [8]}

Biology

Prosena siberita is a univoltine species. Adults are harmless nectar feeders on flowers of various plants (Clematis gouriana, Gnaphalium sp., Tecoma castanifolia, Seseli libanotis, Patrinia scabiosifolia, etc.).^[9] Their larvae parasitize the larvae of various Sericini, Melolonthini and Anomalini scarab beetles^[7] (Popillia japonica, Adoretus, Anomala, Leucopholis species).^{[7] [8] [10]}

Bibliography

• James E. O'Hara, Hiroshi Shima, & Chuntian Zhang. "Annotated Catalogue of the Tachinidae (Insecta: Diptera) of China." Zootaxa 2190 (2009): 1–236.
• Sabrosky and Arnaud, in Stone et al., 1965, Catalog of the Diptera of America north of Mexico, p. 987.

Notes and References

1. Web site: O’Hara . James E. . Henderson . Shannon J. . D. Monty . Wood . Preliminary Checklist of the Tachinidae (Diptera) of the World. Tachinidae Resources . 1 January 2024 . 5 March 2020.
2. Web site: Prosena siberita (Fabricius, 1775) . 2022-03-10 . BioLib.
3. Web site: Prosena siberita (Fabricius, 1775) . 2022-03-10 . Fauna Europaea.
4. Web site: Species details: Prosena siberita (Fabricius, 1775) . 2022-03-10 . www.catalogueoflife.org.
5. O'Hara . James E. . Cerretti . Pierfilippo . 2016 . Annotated catalogue of the Tachinidae (Insecta, Diptera) of the Afrotropical Region, with the description of seven new genera . . 575 . 1–344 . 10.3897/zookeys.575.6072 . 27110184 . 4829880 . free . 2016ZooK..575....1O .
6. Book: Howard, Leland Ossian . 1925 . Report of the Entomologist . Washington D.C. . United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine . 7.
7. Robert Belshaw "Tachinid Flies, Diptera: Tachinidae", Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects Vol. 10, Part 4a(i), page 108, Royal Entomological Society of London, 1993.
8. Book: Heinrichs, E.A. . Biology and management of Rice Insects . Wiley Eastern Limited . 1994 . 9788122405811.
9. Book: Tukaram Vithalrao . Sathe . Floral host plants for Tachinid flies (Diptera: Tachinidae) from Kolhapur and Satara districts, India . Bhoje . Prakash Maruti . Desai . Abhijit Somanrao . . 2014 . ResearchGate.
10. https://archive.org/stream/parasitesofpopil1429clau/parasitesofpopil1429clau_djvu.txt The parasites of Popillia japonica in Japan and Chosen (Korea), and their introduction into United States