the drone flee
This is a hoverfly that strongly resembles and act as a honey be. The drone fly is a beneficial pollinators, flying from flower to flower , just like the honey bees. They can be seen year round in warm, sunny weather, but are most common during the end of the summer. Droneflies survive the winter in hollow trees or other shelters.
the rat-tailed maggot
The rat-tailed maggot is the larva of the drone fly . These are white maggots that live in strongly polluted water and are equipped with a long siphon, called rat-tail. This 5 centimeter long siphon makes it able to breath by sticking the siphon through the surface.
the rat-tailed maggot in the manure pit
The eggs are laid by strongly polluted water, nowadays these a manure pits. The rat-tailed maggots feeds on organic particles, algae and most often on the bacteria that lives in the manure pit. As there is abundant bacteria and no preditors that can survive in a manure pit, the rat-tailed larva will thrive strongly. When fully grown, these larva creeps against the walls to a drier habitat and seeks a suitable place to pupate. The large amounts of drone flies that will form are harmless.
The siphon of the rat tailed maggots.
The breathing tube is about 4 times the lengt of the maggot and is three-segmented and telescoping. This way the rat-tailed maggot can live in dirty water unseen by fishes and birds.
rat-tailed maggots control methods
The easiest way is preventing, by empting the manure pits regularly. Chicken are fond on the maggots and detect them with ease: not one will escape a hungry chicken.
Zweefvliegen (1950, Hoverflies, Drone Flies).
1 dronefly or Eristalis tenax.
2 Eristalis intricarius is European hoverfly and a furry be mimic.
3 Dead Head Fly or Myathropa florea.
4 Common Banded Hoverfly or Syrphus ribesii resembles strongly the dronefly , but is mostly yellow. its larva feed on aphids.
6rat-tailed maggot, larva of the dronefly 1.
5 aphid.
1 Orange legged Robberfly of Dioctria oelandica
2 Helophilus pendulus , a common European hoverfly
3 Volucella bombylans, a large species of Hoverfly
4 Bombylius vulpinus
5 Volucella pellucens, a large hoverfly
6 splayed deer fly or Chrysops caecutiens
7 Eristalis arbustorum
8 drone fly or Eristalis tenax
9 common greenbottle blowfly or Lucilia caesar
10 common greenbottle blowfly or Lucilia caesar
11 Syrphus vitripennis, a hoverfly feeding on aphids.
12 Volucella bombylans, a large species of Hoverfly
13 clubbed general,a soldier fly or Stratiomys chamaeleon
14 Red-tailed bumblebee or bombus lapidarius
15 Hemipenthes morio, a bee-fly
Batesian and Mullerian mimicry of the 1 common wasp.
micicry of the wasp
The wasp is the role model for mimicry: The black and yellow warning coloration (aposematism) has been mimicked by many other not-related insects.
Batesian mimicry of the wasp
The predators will avoid those mimics due to bad experience with the wasps that have the same coloration. Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a poisionous or dangerous or harmful species. This is done by the: bee4 wasp-mimic moth
5 wasp beetle
6 hoverfly
Mullerian mimicry of the wasp
Unrelated insects that can defend themselves use the same colors as the wasp to warn predators. This is done by:2 cinnabar moth caterpillar
3 honey bee