New Species of Fly is First in Its Family to Parasitize Ants

Researchers in Panama have discovered a new species of fly in the family Chloropidae. The name of the new species is Pseudogaurax paratolmos, as reported in a recent paper published in Annals of the Entomological Society of America.

Josh Lancette

While a new species is interesting enough by itself, the researchers discovered something unique about this fly: it is the first known member of its family to parasitize ants. With this discovery, there are now four fly families that are known to parasitize ants (the other three are Tachinidae, Syrphidae, and Phoridae).
The new fly species was found to be an ectoparasitoid of the larvae of Apterostigma dentigerum, a fungus-growing ant. These ants culture fungi under logs, bark, or stones, and then use the fungi as food.
While studying these ants, the researchers discovered fly larvae attached to and feeding on the ant larvae.read more