Rivellia species in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (Date obscured). (c) Timothy Reichard, all rights reserved.
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Timothy Reichard.
A Rivellia species in Howard Co., Maryland (8/11/2017). Determined by John F. Carr/BugGuide.
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Bill Hubick.
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, sorghum, black locust, and Narcissus.[5]
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.[5]
^ abWhittington, A E (2019) The economic significance of the signal fly genus Rivellia Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Platystomatidae). Israel Journal of Entomology49(2): 135–160. https://zenodo.org/records/3371321