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The lifecycle of Brachymeria podagrica, a parasitic wasp with a worldwide distribution, was studied under laboratory conditions using the flesh fly, Sarcophaga dux, as a host. Two hundred parasite-free 3rd instars of S. dux were exposed for 24 h to 20 female B. podagrica. In daily intervals, maggots and later pupae were examined for developmental stages of the parasitoid. The whole pre-imaginal development at a temperature of 26 °C lasted 21 to 26 days. Three morphologically different instars, followed by a prepupal and a pupal stage, were described using light and scanning electron microscopy. In a second experiment with 100 3rd stage Sarcophaga larvae and 10 parasitoids, a total of 70 wasps emerged 20 to 25 days after exposure. Two fly larvae did not pupate and dried out, while 28 pupae contained a dry or caseous content, dead wasp imagos, or their larval stages. No fly imagines emerged from exposed groups, while all 100 unexposed larvae pupated and adults eclosed between day 12 and day 14 after the start of the experiment, while the imagoes of the parasitoids appeared 8 to 12 days later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air sac nematodes from birds are known for more than 200 years now and Filaria attenuata was the first described species from falcons, owl and corvid birds. The superficial description and the loss of the original material made F. attenuata a species inquirenda. Seurat (1915) redescribed the species with material from lanner falcon and pallid harrier from Algeria and based on this description Bain and Mawson, Rec S Aust Mus 18:265-28, (1981) created a new species, Serratospiculum seurati, by adding some, slightly divergent, measurements. The current paper is based on light and scanning electron microscopy of five male and 10 female S. seurati specimens from a Peregrine falcon that acquired the infection in Pakistan. The length of the slender male and female nematodes varied between 42–70 and 165–221 mm, respectively, spicules of unequal shape and length measured 292–325 and 638–785 μm. S. seurati was also found in Saker, Barbary and crossbreed falcons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]