''Megaselia nigra'' is a species of

scuttle fly The fly ''Megaselia scalaris'' is a member of the order Diptera and the family Phoridae, and it is widely distributed in warm regions of the world. The family members are commonly known as the "humpbacked fly", the "coffin fly", and the "scuttle ...

(also called hump-backed flies) in the family

Phoridae The Phoridae are a family of small, hump-backed flies resembling fruit flies. Phorid flies can often be identified by their escape habit of running rapidly across a surface rather than taking to the wing. This behaviour is a source of one of thei ...

. ''Megaselia'' species are common pests of mushroom cultivation, attracted by the aroma of developing fungal

mycelium Mycelium (plural mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrate (biology), substrates. A typical single ...

. The larvae feed on the developing mycelium of the mushroom, ultimately damaging both the mycelium and gill tissues. ''Megaselia nigra'' can be infected by the symbiotic bacteria ''

Spiroplasma ''Spiroplasma'' is a genus of Mollicutes, a group of small bacteria without cell walls. ''Spiroplasma'' shares the simple metabolism, parasitic lifestyle, fried-egg colony morphology and small genome of other ''Mollicutes'', but has a distinctive ...

'', which may protect its fly host from attack by parasites.Ballinger et al. 2018. https://academic.oup.com/gbe/advance-article/doi/10.1093/gbe/evy272/5255877

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q14121807 Phoridae Insects described in 1830

See also

References