Scientific name - Taxonomic position - Diagnosis - Images - Distribution - Prey / Biology - References
Scientific name - Taxonomic position - Diagnosis - Images - Distribution - Prey / Biology - References
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Paragus serratus (Fabricius)
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Diptera: Brachycera: Cyclorrhapha: Syrphidae: Paragini
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Eyes hairy, hairs arranged in three longitudinal stripes, forming a pattern of light and dark areas; contiguous in male, more widely separated in female. Antennae dark brown to black, arista bare. Mesonotum shiny, blue-black, with a pair of greyish longitudinal median stripes, anteriorly confluent, posteriorly divergent, more or less inverted V-shaped; a pair of very short, narrow, transverse greyish white stripes present lateral to the median stripes a little before midline. Scutellum anteriorly black, posteriorly yellowish, posterior margin with a series of serrations / teeth-like projections. Abdomen with variable coloration, tergite 1 well developed and always well beyond scutellum, yellowish with lateral sides black, sometimes partly or wholly reddish brown; tergite 2 reddish to orange-brown, anterior margin and / or sides blackish; remaining tergites reddish or yellowish brown with intervening white bands. Hind femora with a narrow or broad, dark brown area a little after middle.
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Adult - Dorsal view
Ventral view, abdominal apex - Female and male
Larva of P. serratus
Pupa
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India: Karnataka.
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Feeds on a variety of aphids (Homoptera: Aphididae) such as Acyrthosiphon pisum, A. spiraecola, A. craccivora, A. fabae, A. gossypii, Lipaphis erysimi, Melanaphis sacchari, Tetraneura nigriabdominalis, Therioaphis trifolii, Toxoptera aurantii, and T. citricida (Ghorpade, 1981).
Associated with cotton, dolichos, ragi, mustard, gooseberry, redgram, sorghum, sugarcane, sweet potato and water melon (Ghorpade, 1981). Joshi et al. (1999; 2000) studied its predatory potential and worked out the age-specific life table on various aphids.
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Brunetti, E. 1923. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Diptera: Pipunculidae, Syrphidae, Conopidae, Oestridae. Volume 3. Taylor and Francis, London. xii+424 p. |
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Ghorpade, K.D. 1981. Insect prey of Syrphidae (Diptera) from India and neighbouring countries: a review and bibliography. Tropical Pest Management 27(1): 62-82. |
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Ghorpade, K.D. 1994. Diagnostic keys to new and known genera and species of Indian subcontinent Syrphini (Diptera: Syrphidae). Colemania, 3: 1-15. |
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Joshi, S., Ballal, C.R. & Rao, N.S. 1999. Evaluation of potential of syrphid predators, Ischiodon scutellaris (Fabricius) and Paragus serratus (Fabricius) (Diptera: Syrphidae). Journal of Aphidology, 13: 9-16. |
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Joshi, S., Ballal, C.R. and Rao, N.S. 2000. The age specific life-table of Paragus serratus (Fabricius) and Paragus yerburiensis Stuckenberg (Diptera: Syrphidae), predators of Aphis craccivora Koch (Homoptera: Aphididae). Journal of Aphidology, 14: 67-72. |
