Seasonal Incidence of Chloropid Flies in Tall Fescue

Abstract

Although resistance to insect herbivory by endophyte (Neotyphodim coenophialum [Morgan-Jones & Gams] Glenn, Bacon & Hanlin comb. nov.) infected tall fescue Festuca arundinacea Schreb. is well-documented, published field studies have generally disregarded less conspicuous insects such as the chloropid flies (Diptera:Chloropidae). Members of the family Chloropidae (frit flies or grass flies) are common in sweep samples from low vegetation. Larvae of some species are plant pests, many are scavengers and a few are predaceous on other arthropods. No significant difference was found in the number of frit fly, Oscinella frit (Loew) (Chloropidae) larvae infesting E+ perennial rye-grass and E− ryegrass in the United Kingdom (Lewis, G.C. and Clements, R.O. 1986. J. Agric. Sci., U.K. 107:633–638). The objective of this research was to compare chloropid species diversity and population density in plots of “Kentucky 31” tall fescue (K31) (high, 75–95%, N. coenophialum infestation levels) to those in Forager (FOR) an endophyte-free tall fescue cultivar.