''Rivellia'' is a genus of signal flies (insects in the family Platystomatidae). There are at least 140 described species in ''Rivellia''.

Economic importance

There is limited information and understanding about the juvenile stages of most signal fly species. Thirteen species of ''Rivellia'' have, however, been studied in the field of agriculture because the larvae of many of these flies are associated with both living and decaying root nodules of nitrogen-fixing legumes, such as soybean, peanuts, and pigeon pea. They can also be found on the roots or flowers of other cultivated plants like

eggplant Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mos ...

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

, black locust, and ''Narcissus''.Whittington, A E (2019) The economic significance of the signal fly genus ''Rivellia'' Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Platystomatidae). ''Israel Journal of Entomology'' 49(2): 135–160. https://zenodo.org/records/3371321 With soybean, this association has been shown to be economically significant because pest-induced stress caused by these flies can significantly reduce nitrogen fixation and yields; ''Rivellia quadrifasciata'', ''Rivellia basilaris'', and ''Rivellia basilaris'' are all known pests of root nodules of this crop. Because this is a widely distributed genus, economically important effects are likely to be found in many other crops world-wide.

References

Diptera of Africa Muscomorph flies of Europe Platystomatidae Articles containing video clips Tephritoidea genera Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Robineau-Desvoidy {{Tephritoidea-stub

Economic importance

See also

References