Biology professor and researcher discovers and names new fly species

 

MURRAY, Ky. — Dr. Oliver Beckers, Murray State University principal investigator and associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, has made quite the discovery: a new species of fly.

The species' full name is Neomintho beckersi.

It all started when Beckers was collecting katydids in northern Florida for a research project funded by the National Science Foundation in 2021.

“After I brought the katydids to Murray, I noticed that a couple of larvae emerged from the katydids,” Beckers said. “I was aware that these katydids are used as hosts by the eavesdropping parasitoid fly Ormia lineifrons, that we have here in Kentucky and kills many of the calling katydid males that try to attract females for mating (I do research on those). Thus, I assumed it would be one of those flies and reared them to adulthood in my lab.” 

However, when the fly emerged as an adult from its pupal stage, an insect’s stage of development between larva and adult, it was pretty clear that this was not one of the Ormia lineifrons flies. Instead of a yellowish white body, this fly was black and more slender. Beckers contacted a specialist on this group of flies, Dr. James E. O'Hara of the University of Guelph in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and he was not sure at first what to do with it either. He did some research in museums looking through collections and told Beckers that this was a new species and that he was allowed to name it. O'Hara did some further research and has now officially described the species.

The fly parasitized a katydid host, Neoconocephalus triops. Not much is known about how this fly finds its hosts since it has no ears like other parasitoid flies that use the mating songs to find the calling hosts. Also, they are day active when the katydids are not calling and typically hide in the vegetation from visual predators. So, how this fly finds its hosts is a mystery, Beckers said. However, phylogenetically (relationship) wise, this fly belongs to a group of parasitic flies that uses katydids and crickets as hosts.

“My finding that this fly actually parasitized a katydid is also the first direct evidence that supports this taxonomic grouping related to the other parasitic fly groups,” said Beckers. “Flies of this particular group (Euthelairini) are established in the Neotropics, which adds a little more surprise to this discovery in northern Florida.”

Assuming that the parasitism of the host is similar to that of other closely related flies that use crickets as hosts, the fly's larvae are placed by the female fly on the katydid host. They then bury into the body of the host and develop inside while feeding on non-vital organs of the host. Once the development inside the host is completed (7-10 days), the larva breaks through the body wall of the host, which kills the host. Because they kill their host, they are actually parasitoids, not parasites. Within the same day of emergence from the host, the larvae pupate and develop into adult flies that emerge from the pupa. As evidence, Beckers said he found the pupa of this fly in the cage with his katydids.

“Dr. Beckers' discovery adds to his work on the relationships between katydids and parasitoid flies,” said Dr. Sterling Wright, professor and chair of the Department of Biological Sciences. “The fact that the new fly species cannot hear will undoubtedly keep Dr. Beckers very busy while he studies the dynamics of this interesting relationship.”

“This is a very exciting discovery by Dr. Beckers and will add to the many research breakthroughs that have occurred in our Department of Biological Sciences,” said Dr. Maeve McCarthy, interim dean of the Jesse D. Jones College of Science, Engineering & Technology.

Read more about Neomintho beckersi at bit.ly/4sfHgx2.

This isn’t the first time Beckers and his family have discovered a new species of insect. In 2016, his wife, Dr. Laura Sullivan-Beckers and his daughter, Sylvie, who was just 2 years old at the time, discovered a new species of treehopper while tending to their garden. The mother and daughter were starting a fresh flower bed.

“I let Sylvie water the bed, which she promptly flooded,” said Sullivan-Beckers, associate professor of biology at Murray State. “All these freshly-killed treehoppers came floating to the surface. I worked with treehoppers as a Ph.D. student, and I knew they didn’t belong in the soil; they’re plant-feeding insects.”

Sullivan-Beckers observed that the treehoppers were deposited by wasps, which had been stunning them before carrying them into their underground nests to feed their young. But she also noticed a treehopper species that she didn’t recognize. Sullivan-Beckers fully excavated her garden, and, curious to know whether the unusual treehopper truly was a new species, she reached out to her Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Rex Cocroft at the University of Missouri, who in turn put her in touch with Dr. Stuart McKamey of the United States Department of Agriculture. 

Sullivan-Beckers and McKamey found that it was, in fact, a new species of treehopper, the first of its genus to be found in North America. The genus is very small—this was only the fifth species of the genus to be described, and all of the others are in Central America. The pair wrote a publication designating the new species, which was released in August 2019.

Sullivan-Beckers decided to honor her daughter’s discovery by requesting the species officially be designated Hebetica sylviae.

“As soon as it was confirmed as a new species, I knew I wanted to name it after Sylvie,” said Sullivan-Beckers. “She was at the heart of the discovery, and it’s not every day a mother gets the chance to name a species after her child.”

She added, “I still can’t believe that these undiscovered treehoppers were essentially in my own backyard. What’s even crazier is that I never would have found them had it not been for the wasps delivering them to my flower bed and my daughter overwatering it. It’s true that science involves luck and serendipity. I was at the right place at the right time with the perfect field assistant.”

Beckers said he has challenged his wife to find the next new species since he has now tied the record between the two.