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First Palaearctic Record of the Bird Parasite Passeromyia heterochaeta (Diptera: Muscidae) from the Iranian Persian Gulf Islands

Authors:
Andrzej Grzywacz at Nicolaus Copernicus University
Andrzej Grzywacz
Mehdi Khoobdel at Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences
Mehdi Khoobdel
Kamran Akbarzadeh at Tehran University of Medical Sciences
Kamran Akbarzadeh
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Abstract Background: Passeromyia is a muscid genus previously known from the Old World Afrotropical and Oriental regions and eastwards from Australia and the West Pacific. The genus is known from nest-dwelling larvae which may be parasites of the nestlings. This study was aimed to identify of the Passeromyia species in the Iranian Persian Gulf Islands. Methods: The flies were collected during April 2010 to March 2011 on the 4 Iranian Persian Gulf islands, Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, Abu-Mousa and Qeshm with fly bottle trap and entomological net. Results: During this sampling, 18 representatives of P. heterochaeta, a species with free-living haematophagous larvae, have been collected. The species is reported herein from Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, Abu-Mousa and Qeshm islands. Conclusions: This is the first Palaearctic record of the species as well as the first report of the genus Passeromyia from the Palaearctic Region.
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J Arthropod-Borne Dis, December 2014, 8(2): 224–227 A Grzywacz et al.: First Palaearctic Record …
224
Short Communication
First Palaearctic Record of the Bird Parasite Passeromyia heterochaeta
(Diptera: Muscidae) from the Iranian Persian Gulf Islands
Andrzej Grzywacz 1,*Mehdi Khoobdel 2, Kamran Akbarzadeh 3
1Chair of Ecology and Biogeography, Faculty of Biology and Environment Protection, Nicolaus
Copernicus University, Lwowska, Poland
2Health Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Tehran, Iran
3Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of
Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
(Received 31 Mar 2013; accepted 25 Jan 2014)
Abstract
Background: Passeromyia is a muscid genus previously known from the Old World Afrotropical and Oriental re-
gions and eastwards from Australia and the West Pacific. The genus is known from nest-dwelling larvae which may
be parasites of the nestlings. This study was aimed to identify of the Passeromyia species in the Iranian Persian Gulf
Islands.
Methods: The flies were collected during April 2010 to March 2011 on the 4 Iranian Persian Gulf islands, Greater
Tunb, Lesser Tunb, Abu-Mousa and Qeshm with fly bottle trap and entomological net.
Results: During this sampling, 18 representatives of P. heterochaeta, a species with free-living haematophagous
larvae, have been collected. The species is reported herein from Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, Abu-Mousa and Qeshm
islands.
Conclusions: This is the first Palaearctic record of the species as well as the first report of the genus Passeromyia
from the Palaearctic Region.
Keywords: Passeromyia heterochaeta, Bird parasite, Palaearctic, Iran, Persian Gulf, New record
Introduction
Passeromyia Rodhain and Villeneuve,
1915 is a small muscid genus known from
only five valid species (Pont 1974). Repre-
sentatives of the genus occur in the Old
World Afrotropical and Oriental regions as
well as Australia and the West Pacific (Pont
1974). Nests-dwelling, trimorphic larvae act
as scavengers or parasites of the nestlings
(Pont 1974, Skidmore 1985). In Muscidae,
larval haematophagous behaviour has also
been reported in Philornis Meinert, 1890,
but the genus is restricted to the New World.
In both genera larvae may realize their be-
haviour as free-living saprophages or either
free-living or under skin haematophages.
Among representatives of the genus Passe-
romyia,P. heterochaeta (Villenueve 1915)
is the only species present in the Afrotropi-
cal Region (Couri 2007). The species is
widespread in this region, and to date was
reported from Botswana, Burundi, Democ-
ratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria,
Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda,
Zambia, Zimbabwe (Pont 1974).
In the Oriental Region P. heterochaeta
was reported from Burma, China, India, In-
donesia (Sumatra), Sri Lanka, Taiwan (Pont
1974). The biology and natural history of P.
heterochaeta has been relatively well stud-
ied. Larvae of P. heterochaeta pierce the
skin of the nestlings and subsequently feed
as a free-living hematophages, although
*Corresponding author:Dr Mehdi Khoobdel, E-mail:
khoobdel@yahoo.com
http://jad.tums.ac.ir
Published Online: April 09, 2014
J Arthropod-Borne Dis, December 2014, 8(2): 224–227 A Grzywacz et al.: First Palaearctic Record …
225
were also observed feeding on dead nes-
tlings, penetrating the body and in the nos-
trils of the host (Pont 1974). The species was
reported from a wide range of hosts and de-
tailed list of those was provided by Pont
(1974), nevertheless, impact of larval activ-
ity on certain host species population is un-
known.
This study was aimed to identify and re-
cord of the Passeromyia species in the Ira-
nian Persian Gulf islands.
Materials and Methods
Insects were collected during a sampling
period from April 2010 to March 2011. The
area of entomological survey included Ira-
nian Persian Gulf islands belonging to
Hormozgan Province in southeastern Iran:
Greater Tunb (26o30'N–55o16'E, 10.3 km2),
Lesser Tunb (26o14'N–55o08'E, 2.1 km2),
Abu-Mousa (25o51'–26o19' N, 54o26'–55o19'
E, 68.8 km2) and Qeshm (26o32'–27o06'N,
55o15'–56o30'E, 1491 km2). Flies were col-
lected with fly bottle trap and entomological
net, killed with ethyl acetate vapours,
pinned, labelled and identified by the first
author (AG) according to Pont (1974) and
Couri (2007). Species identification of se-
lected specimens was verified based on the
collection of the Natural History Museum of
Denmark (Copenhagen, Denmark). Reference
specimens were deposited in the collection
of the Health Research Center, Baqiyatallah
University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
and the Chair of Ecology and Biogeography,
Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Po-
land. Photos were taken with Nikon 8400
digital camera mounted on a Nikon SMZ
1500 stereomicroscope (Nikon Corp, Tokyo,
Japan). Figure was prepared with Combine
ZP image stacking software.
Results
During the time of an entomological sur-
vey on the Iranian Persian Gulf Islands, car-
ried out from April 2010 to March 2011, a
total of 18 specimens representing P. hetero-
chaeta were collected (Table 1). This is the
first report of bird parasite species P. hetero-
chaeta from the area of the Persian Gulf.
Representatives of Passeromyia can be
differentiated from other houseflies based on
the following combination of characters: large
truncate lower squama, bare anepimeron and
prosternum, meron below posterior spiracles
covered with hairs, plumose arista and
bowshaped wing vein M1, long antennae and
dichoptic males (Pont 1974). Adults of P.
heterochaeta are moderately large and ro-
bust flies (body length 8–9 mm). The ground
colour of thorax and abdomen is black, how-
ever the scutellum is yellow on apical half or
more. Passeromyia heterochaeta can be dis-
criminated from other species of the genus
by the shifting priunose pattern on the ab-
domen, marked vittae on the dorsal surface
of thorax, and both ash-grey dusted (Pont
1974). Eyes are haired, halters brown, ca-
lypters whitish and wings are hyaline (Fig.
1).
Table 1. Passeromyia heterochaeta collected from the Iranian Persian Gulf islands from April 2010 to March 2011
Total
October
...
Jun
May
Month
Island
2
1♀
Abu-Mousa
3
2♀
Greater Tunb
1
1♀
Lesser Tunb
11
1♂
2♀
1♂, 7♀
Qeshm
18
1
3
11
Total
http://jad.tums.ac.ir
Published Online: April 09, 2014
J Arthropod-Borne Dis, December 2014, 8(2): 224–227 A Grzywacz et al.: First Palaearctic Record …
226
Fig. 1. Female of Passeromyia heterochaeta, lateral
view
Discussion
Soós and Papp (1986) in the Catalogue of
Palaearctic Diptera defined the borders of
the Palaearctic Region based on the already
defined borders of the Afrotropical and Ori-
ental Regions. For a consistency we fol-
lowed these limits of the Palaearctic Region
herein, hence according to Soós and Papp
(1986) “in North Africa and the Arabian
Peninsula the border extends in the Sahara
along the Tropic of Cancer and joins south
western confines of Pakistan”. Thus south-
ern Iran and particularly Iranian Persian Gulf
islands are discerned as a part of the Palae-
arctic Region. Summarizing, this is the first
report of both the species P. heterochaeta
and the genus Passeromyia from the Palae-
arctic region, hitherto unknown from this
region (Pont 1986).
Evidence of range expansions have re-
cently been provided for some species of
dipterans of primary medical and veterinary
importance (e.g. Grassberger et al. 2003,
Szpila et al. 2008, Velasquez et al. 2013).
Some representatives of Philornis, recently
introduced to Galápagos Islands, have been
revealed as causing serious mortality in birds,
particularly Darwin’s finches (O’Connor et
al. 2010).
Conclusion
Passeromyia heterochaeta larvae exhibit
parasitic behaviour and the species was hith-
erto unknown from the Persian Gulf area.
Future studies are necessary to establish par-
ticular distribution of P. heterochaeta and its
effect on the local avian fauna.
Acknowledgements
The authors declare that there is no con-
flict of interest. This study was financially
supported by Baqiyatallah University of Med-
ical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (Project No
BMSU/HRC-87.128).
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  • Feb 2013
  • B ENTOMOL RES
The muscid Synthesiomyia nudiseta (van der Wulp, 1883) is a species with forensic importance in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. This fly has recently been introduced into southern Europe and, until now, had not been recorded in forensic cases in this region. Here, morphology of all larval instars of S. nudiseta is documented in detail by using a combination of light and scanning electron microscopy. Literature data concerning larval morphology are revised and characters allowing identification from other forensically important Muscidae are listed. The life cycle of this species was studied at four constant temperatures: 15, 20, 25 and 30°C. Total development varied between 46.50±0.97 days at 15°C and 15.39±0.32 days at 30°C. Moreover, we report this species breeding in human corpses, for the first time in Europe, in forensic cases from autopsies at the Anatomical Forensic Institute of Madrid and the Institute of Legal Medicine of Alicante, Spain.
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Philornis downsi parasitism is the primary cause of nestling mortality in the critically endangered Darwin’s medium tree finch (Camarhynchus pauper)
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2010
Darwin’s medium tree finch (Camarhynchus pauper) meets the 2009 International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List criteria for a critically endangered species because it has “a very small range on a single island” and is “declining rapidly owing to the effects of the parasite Philornis downsi”, habitat degradation, and introduced predators. The medium tree finch is only found in patches of remnant highland forest on Floreana Island, where it co-exists with breeding populations of small and large tree finches (C. parvulus and C. psittacula). Here, we examine the intensity of P. downsi in nests of small, medium, and large tree finches on Floreana. We expected that parasite intensity would increase with finch body size, and with greater rainfall, and would also correlate with increased nestling mortality. We found a trend in the expected direction for parasite intensity and rainfall. Combined meta-analytically with data from a previous study, the overall trend for the two studies was significant. We also found a significant linear trend in parasite intensity with finch body size. In addition, the medium tree finch exhibited a somewhat higher parasite intensity than would be expected based on body mass alone. Of 63 active medium tree finch nests, 17 nests had nestlings: all of which were infested with P. downsi. Only 25% of medium tree finch nestlings fledged, 28% were depredated, 41% died due to P. downsi parasitism, and 6% died for other reasons.
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Grassberger M, Friedrich E, Reiter C. The blowfly Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) as a new forensic indicator in Central Europe. International Journal of Legal Medicine
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2003
During the summer months of the year 2001, six forensic cases (one is reported in the present paper), a pig carrion study in the city of Vienna (latitude 48 degrees 12'N, longitude 16 degrees 22'E) and several liver-baited traps north of Vienna, yielded large numbers of maggots of the blowfly Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Apart from some records from France, reports of C. albiceps from the palearctic region north of the Alps (i.e. north of a latitude of 48 degrees N) have been scarce. Our findings provided an opportunity to derive developmental schedules for C. albiceps at five different constant temperatures (15, 20, 25, 30, 35 degrees C). The minimal duration of development from oviposition to adult was inversely related to temperature, ranging from 8.3 +/- 0.5 days at 35 degrees C to 19.2 +/- 0.92 days at 20 degrees C. Although eggs hatched after 1.9 +/- 0.16 days at 15 degrees C, larvae did not complete development and frequently died during the first instar stage. We also found a high mortality rate (up to 99%) of native L. sericata larvae caused by predation of C. albiceps larvae under laboratory conditions, indicating a high susceptibility of L. sericata to attack by C. albiceps. Apart from this, the current and possible future distribution of C. albicepsin Europe is discussed. The northward expansion of its range beyond southern Europe obviously decreases the value of C. albiceps in estimating the site of death, in that it is no longer exclusive to southern European regions. Moreover, the aggressive feeding behaviour of second and third instar larve of C. albiceps could reset the post-mortem insect clock by clearing a corpse of all earlier arrivers.
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Family Muscidae Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera. Scatophagidae-Hypodermatidae
  • Jan 1986
  • 57-215
  • Ac Pont
Pont AC (1986) Family Muscidae. In: Soós A, Papp L (Eds) Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera. Scatophagidae-Hypodermatidae, Volume 11. Akadémia Kiadó, Budapest, pp. 57–215, 1–345.
Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera
  • Jan 1986
  • 6-8
  • Á Soós
  • L Papp
Soós Á, Papp L (1986) Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera, Scathophagidae-Hypodermatidae, Vol. 11. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, pp. 6-8.