Family NEMESTRINIDAE
Compiler and date details
2005 - M. Elliott, Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Introduction
The Nemestrinidae are currently represented in Australia by six genera and 51 species. Little is known of their biology, though adults of extralimital species have been recorded as important agents in the pollination of some plants in southern Africa (Johnson & Steiner 1997; Johnson, Edwards, Carbutt & Potgieter 2002).
Records of Nemestrinidae larvae suggest they are parasites of grasshoppers or scarabaeid beetles. Fuller (1938) details the laboratory rearing of Trichopsidea oestracea Westwood from grasshoppers and describes the larva and pupa. Nemestinidae of the extralimital subfamily Hirmoneurinae have been recorded as using scarabaeid beetles as hosts (Teskey 1981).
General References
Fuller, M.E. 1938. Notes on Trichopsidea oestracea (Nemestrinidae) and Cyrtomorpha flaviscutellaris (Bombyliidae) - two dipterous enemies of grasshoppers. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 63(3-4): 95-104
Johnson, S.D. & Steiner, K.E. 1997. Long-tongued fly pollination and evolution of floral spur length in the Disa draconis complex (Orchidaceae). Evolution 51(1): 45-53
Johnson, S.D., Edwards, T.J., Carbutt, C. & Potgieter, C. 2002. Specialization for hawkmoth and long-proboscid fly pollination in Zaluzianskya section Nycterinia (Scrophulariaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 138(1): 17-27
Paramonov, S.J. 1953. A review of Australian Nemestrinidae (Diptera). Australian Journal of Zoology 1: 242-290
Teskey, H.J. 1981. Nemestrinidae. pp. 585-588 in McAlpine, J.F., Peterson, B.V., Shewell, G.E., Teskey, H.J., Vockeroth, J.R. & Wood, D.M. (coordinators) (eds). Manual of Nearctic Diptera. Ottawa : Research Branch, Agriculture Canada. Monograph 27 Vol. 1 674 pp.