Scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) reared from Spodoptera exigua (Hübner, 1808) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Iran

Author: R. HENRY L. DISNEY, JAVAD KARIMZADEH, MOHAMMAD-HASSAN BESHARATNEJAD, EBRAHIM GILASIAN, AZIZ SHEIKHIGARJAN

The present study on scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) revealed six species of Megaselia, which are all new for the insect fauna of Iran. All six Megaselia species are reared from larvae of Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) feeding on cauliflower (Brassica cretica Lam.). Four species of Megaselia are described as new to science: M. exspodopera sp. n., M. necalbiclava sp. n., M. nocttuidpasco sp. n. and M. tubuslonga sp. n. We also discovered two females of Megaselia which at the present stage of investigation cannot be linked to the conspecific males.