PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH. 100(3). 1998. pp. 576-587 ACALYPTRATE DIPTERA ASSOCIATED WITH WATER WILLOW, JUSTICIA AMERICANA (ACANTHACEAE) J. B. Keiper, p. L. Brutsche, and B. A. Foote Deptartment of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242-0001, U.S.A. (BAF e-mail:
[email protected]). Abstract. — The temporal distribution of 28 species of acalyptrate Diptera associated with water willow, Justicia americana (L.) Vahl, from northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania are given. Monocultural stands in three streams were sampled. Some species used the plant directly for food or respiration, whereas others utilized the sediments, detritus, algae, and microbes present among the rhizomes and roots. Three species of shore fly (Ephydridae), Hydrellia griseola (Fallen), Notiphila cariimta Loew, and Patydra qiiadrituberciilata Loew, and the stem-boring agromyzid, Melanagromyza dianthereae (Malloch), dominated numerically. The temporal distribution of the dominant species var-ied between sites, demonstrating that similar vegetation at different sites does not nec-essarily support identical dipteran communities. Biological observations on M. dianther-eae are given. Key Words: Macrophytes, Justicia. Ephydridae, Agromyzidae, Melanagromyza dian-thereae, streams Diptera frequently are the dominant group of animals encountered in marshes (e.g. Davis and Gray 1966; Scheiring and Foote 1973; Todd and Foote 1987a, 1987b; Larson and Foote 1997). Lush stands of emergent macrophytes provide a complex three dimensional habitat that harbors di-verse insect communities (e.g. Todd and Foote 1987a). Justicia americana (L.) Vahl is a dicot-yledon that grows in shallow waters of in-termediate-sized streams in northeastern North America. A few investigators have studied the life history of certain Diptera associated with J. americana (Malloch 1920, Deonier et al. 1979), but no compre-hensive list of Diptera associated with this macrophyte has been compiled. Herein, we present the results of a survey of the aca-lyptrate Diptera taken from J. americana in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylva-nia. Differences in species composition, di-versity, and temporal distribution are com-pared among sites. Melanagromyza dianthereae (Malloch) (Agromyzidae) is a stem borer of J. amer-icana. but no detailed data on the immature stages are available (Malloch 1920, Spencer and Steyskal 1986). Therefore, we present observations on the general biology of this species. Materials and Methods Three sites in three watersheds were sam-pled during the summer of 1996. Little Beaver Creek, in Beaver Creek State Park (OH, Columbiana Co.) is an intermediate order stream, 20 to 30 m wide in the sam-pling area. The canopy shaded less than 1 0% of the stream. Justicia americana grew in shallow water along each bank, but only the southern bank was sampled as it was
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