Guide to insects, arthropods, and molluscs of northern Dogon country

Dermaptera (earwigs)

Archidermaptera

Forficulina

Forficulidae

Forficula senegalensis 60344

notes: body ends in a pair of forceps-like cerci; abdomen flexible; minor crop pest (may eat corn silk, etc.)

specmns 2005_075, 2005_081, photo

Diptera (flies, mosquitoes)

a) robber flies, tiny flies that seize other flying insects in flight (Asilidae, possibly distinguishing two types);

b) a tiny muscoid fly that is difficult to shake off (specmn 2006_002, unidentified);

c) blowly (Calliphoridae), a large fly with shiny green back (sometimes distinguishing a type that hums in fields);

d) bot-fly, small fly on cattle, cf. Hypoderma sp.;

e) flesh-fly, large fly with alternating whitish and blackish longitudinal stripes on upper back, often in garbage, cf. Sarcophaga sp. (Sarcophagidae).

f) a tiny fly said to make small amounts of honey in trees; specimen 2008_001 was Diptera, Tachinidae, Actia sp. (parasitic on Lepidoptera), (Jamsay dɔ́ŋɔ̀)

two suborders:

Nematocera (mosquitoes, gnats, black flies, midges)

Brachycera (flies)

Culicomorpha

mosquitoes 60448

Bibionomorpha

Cecidomyiidae (gall midges, gall gnats; see also under "crop pests" at end of guide)

Contarinia sorghicola (sorghum midge//cecidomyie du sorgho, adult resembles mosquito), larvae feed on developing ovaries of sorghum grains

Geromyia penniseti (millet grain midge)

Orseolia oryzivora (African rice gall midge)

large biting fly sp. 60346

predatory flies, seize insect prey in flight, inject saliva that immobilizes prey through short, strong proboscis; short antennae; bristly legs (help catch prey); body often long and slender-tapering, occasionally thick bumblebee mimics; larvae grow on plants or in crevices within soil, bark, or wood, and may be predacious (feeding on soft-bodied insects)

Laphriinae

Nusa sp. 60350

bites animals

specmn 2006_048

unidentified

asilid sp. 1 60348

notes: small, reddish, bites

specmn 2005_079

asilid sp. 2 60349

notes: large, greyish

specmn 2005_083

websites

Afrotropical records for Nusa from this website (5.07): N. dispar, N. gaerdesi, N. infumata, N. ingwavuma, N. vittipes

can be predatory or blood-sucking, feed on decaying matter , or feed on plant and animal exudates

Glossina spp. (tse-tse flies, not in Dogon country)

Atherigoninae

Atherigona soccata (sorghum shoot fly, a major pest)

larvae cut the growing point of the sorghum leaf

Muscinae

Musca domestica, common house fly 60345

muscinid sp. 1 (small, biting) 60355

specmn 2006_053

unidentified

muscoid sp. 2 60354

notes: tiny, hard to shake off

specmn 2006_002

several other subfamilies/tribes

website

shiny (metallic) blue, green, or black; quick to find carrion, larvae are maggots in carrion & dung (as are some other fly spp.)

subfamilies Calliphoinae, Chrysomyinae

blowfly sp. 1 60353

notes: (in carrion)

specmn 2005_084

blowfly sp. 2 60352

notes: (hums in fields)

specmn 2006_026

website

Drosophila sp.

hairy flies; larvae are parasites in mammals; eggs laid on mammals feet, then ingested by licking, larvae work their way to subcutaneous area, cause small sores on back of host animal; larvae have hooks for mouthparts to tear flesh; adults are mouthless and short-lived

Hypoderma bovis and H. lineatum: parasitic on cattle

cf. Hypoderma sp. 60356

known to Dogon in Nanga area

specmn 2006_037

Muscomorpha, Sarcophagidae (flesh fly)

large, sluggish flies; breed in carrion, dung, or in open wounds of animals

Blaesoxipha (parasitic on grasshoppers, checkerboard pattern, small)

Sarcophaga (garbage, checkerboard pattern)

Wohlfahrtia (black spots on abdomen)
flesh fly sp., cf. Sarcophaga sp. 60357

specmn 2005_072 (looks like Sarcophaga sp.)

webpage:

http://www.zmuc.dk/entoweb/sarcoweb/sarcweb/Sarc_web.htm

recognizes three subfamilies: Sarcophaginae (large robust spp., color often grey thorax with 3 blackish vittae and checkerboard pattern on abdomen changing with light), Paramacronychiinae (medium-sized, covered with grey or light-brown microtomentum, typical abdominal pattern of median stripe with dark lateral spots), Miltogramiminae (small to medium, large eyes)

Tabanus sp.

Hemiptera (bugs)

[similar to Coleoptera, but have protruding mouthparts for sucking, and wings at rest form a kind of "X" shape on back (versus a straight median line for Coleoptera)

a) cicada (rarely seen but often heard in trees in daytime);

b) tip-wilter bug Anoplocnemis curvipes (Coreidae), a large bug that feeds on legumes and flies around clumsily in fields;

c) various pod-sucking bugs on cow-peas and other legumes;

d) Nariscus sp. (Alydidae), feeds on calabash plants;

e) stink bugs (Pentatomidae);

f) cotton-stainer Dysdercus völkeri (Pyrrhocoridae);

g) Cyclogastridea sp., a flat green bug in leaves of tree Combretum glutinosum; and

h-i) two large aquatic “water scorpion” bugs in pools, the nepid Laccotrephus fabricii (long filiform tail) and the belostomatid Lethocerus sp. (French nèpe and bélostome, respectively).
aphids, leafhoppers, cicadas, scale insects, etc.; adults and nymphs have a proboscis with salivary as well as food channels; first pair of wings partly hard and partly membranous; mostly suck juice from plants, a few are predatory or blood-sucking
classification: (add Dinidoridae)

Hemiptera (relation between Hemiptera and Heteroptera in flux)

Heteroptera (alternatively Prosorrhyncha or Heteropteroidea)

Pentatomomorpha

Coreoidea

Alydidae (broad-headed bugs)

Coreidae (leaf-footed bugs)

Pentatomoidea

Pentatomidae

Tessaratomidae

Pyrrhocoroidea

Pyrrhocoridae

Nepomorpha

Nepoidea

Nepidae

Cicadomorpha

Cicadoidea

Cicadidae (cicadas)

Cicadelloidea (leafhoppers)

Sternorrhyncha (aphids, whiteflies, and scale insects)

website:

http://www.geocities.com/brisbane_bugs/index.html
Auchenorrhyncha

Hemiptera, Cicadoidea

specmn 2005_063 (claimed to be cicada but probably not)

Hemiptera, Alydidae (broad-headed bugs)

notes: insect that eats gourd (calabash) plants

specmn 2004_034

Hemiptera, Coreidae (leaf-footed bugs)

legume-eating bug; specmns 2004_006, 2005_006, 2005_088, 2006_065 (female larva)

coreid bug larva 60422

spcm 2005_077

Clavigralla (pod-suckers on cow-pea)

Clavigralla sp.

seen feeding on cow-peas in Sevare, October 2011

Hemiptera, Dinidoridae

brownish black bug that feeds on Cucurbitaceae (calabash, melon)

records: widespread in Dogon country, e.g. Beni (JH)

Hemiptera, Pentatomidae (stink bugs)

Agonoscelis sp. (larva) 60423

small light-colored larva found on Zornia glochidiata

specmn 2006_075

reference: http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/rider/Pentatomoidea/Genus_Agonoscelidini/Agonoscelis.htm

West African Agonoscelis spp.:

A. erosa (dorsum of abdomen totally black)

A. heroldi (dorsum of abdomen generally totally red)

A. versicoloratus (legs and dorsum of abdomen bicolored)

A. okuana (legs and dorsum of abdomen bicolored)

note: Agonoscelis pubescens is reported in other sources as a sorghum pest

Pentatominae, Nezarini

Nezara viridula

notes: green stink bug, common in Nigeria/Ghana, attacks cucurbits, legumes

Hemiptera, Pyrrhocoridae

specmn 2005_082

Hemiptera, Tessaratomidae

notes: flat green bug found in Combretum glutinosum

spcm 2005_087

Tessaratoma sp. (larva) 60424

notes: flat green bug that eats leaves of Combretum glutinosum tree

spcm 2006_076

Hemiptera, Nepomorpha, Nepidae

large water scorpion with very long filiform tail (unlike belostomatid bugs)

specmn 2006_073

Hemiptera, Nepomorpha, Belostomatidae

Lethocerus sp. 60328

large aquatic water bug (large insect), no long tail like nepid bugs

specmn 2005_046