Biology, Ecology and Control of Soldier Flies Inopus Spp (Diptera, Stratiomyidae) - a Review

Abstract

The taxonomy and identification of the soldier flies, Inopus spp., their distribution, host plants, population biology and dynamics, and their chemical and cultural control are reviewed. Previous work has concentrated on I. rubriceps (Macquart), the most economically important species and a pest of sugar cane in Australia and pastures in New Zealand. Areas where further study is desirable include: the taxonomy and distribution of the genus; effects of host plants on development; processes involved in the inhibition of ratooning of sugar cane; detailed life-table studies on different host plants and different cultivars of sugar cane; damage and intervention thresholds and statistically based sampling plans for sugar cane; factors influencing pupation; the contribution of predation, parasitism and disease to mortality; control with insecticides other than organochlorines; the long-term need for insecticides; and control strategies other than insecticide treatments.