Examples of predator-prey interactions in which flies rob ants are uncommon. To date, this behavior has only been recorded in the genus Bengalia Robineau-Desvoidy (Bengaliinae, Diptera, ...Calliphoridae). These predatory flies ambush ants, and rob them of the food or offspring that they are carrying. However, because of the rarity of this behavior, the reasons and consequences (evolutionary advantages) are unknown, and indeed, the behavior has been sometimes considered anecdotal. In this study, we employed field investigations and behavioral analyses to investigate whether the sex of the fly Bengalia varicolor, or the weight and quality of the food carried by Pheidole nodus ants influenced fly-ant interactions in their natural habitats. We show that food weight and quality influenced the behavior of B. varicolor independent of the fly's sex. Robbing behavior by the flies was more successful when the food robbed was of high-quality and light in weight. Furthermore, the weight of the food robbed modulated the escape distance the flies could carry it. This then may affect the food quality and weight transported by the ants. This is a novel example of deciphering the relationship between highwayman flies and their ant victims. Given the widespread distribution of Bengalia flies, we suggest that such interspecific predator-prey encounters may shape the robbery interactions and the carrying behavior of further ant species in nature.
Adult blowflies of the large tropical genus Bengalia present a peculiar predacious behaviour, while breeding habits and morphology of their preimaginal instars have remained almost entirely unknown. ...Light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) were successfully adopted for the first documentation of morphology of eggs and first instar larvae of two species of Bengalia obtained in West Bengal, India. General egg morphology resembles the ground plan known from necrophagous blowflies, with similar form and structure of median area, hatching pleats and micropyle. The structure of the chorion, with subducted central parts of hexagons, is most similar to eggs of parasitic Pollenia and Rhinophoridae. Morphology of the first instar larvae of Bengalia is entirely different from known larvae of necrophagous blowflies. The complex anterior part of the cephaloskeleton in first instar Bengalia is unique within the Calyptratae, although the pseudocephalic sensory organs resemble those found in parasitic species of Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae with a free-living first instar larva penetrating the soil environment. However, larval biology in Bengalia and in particular the function of their unique mouthhooks need further studies with an integrated field and laboratory approach.
The mitochondrial genome of Bengalia sp. is documented in the present study, making it the first representative of the subfamily Bengaliinae with nearly complete mitogenome sequenced. This 15,748 bp ...mitogenome consists of 22 transfer RNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and 1 noncoding control region. The genome organization, base composition, and codon usage of the mitogenome are noted. Phylogenetic analysis strongly supported that Bengaliinae is the sister group to the clade (Chrysomyinae, (Calliphorinae, Lucillinae). This study portrayed the systematic position of Bengaliinae within the Calliphoridae and provided mitogenomic data for further study on the evolution of the Calliporadae.
Recent extensive investigations carried out in the Ib River Coalfield, Mahanadi Master Basin, Orissa, identified numerous fossiliferous beds in the lower Gondwana deposits. Six exposures of the ...Barakar and lower Kamthi formations yielded diverse and abundant plant remains. The flora includes twenty-three genera representing nine groups viz., Lycopodiales, Equisetales, Sphenophyllales, Filicales, Cordaitales, Coniferales, Ginkgoales, Cycadales and Glossopteridales. Systematic descriptions of the pteridophyte taxa namely
Cyclodendron (Lycopodiales),
Schizoneura,
Raniganjia,
Bengalia, equisetaceous stems (Equisetales),
Trizygia,
Benlightfootia (Sphenophyllales),
Neomariopteris, and
Dichotomopteris (Filicales) are presented in this paper. Pteridophytic leaves comprising nine taxa viz.,
Cyclodendron leslii, Schizoneura gondwanensis, Raniganjia bengalensis, Bengalia raniganjensis, Trizygia speciosa, Benlightfootia indica, Neomariopteris hughesii, N. talchirensis, and
Dichotomopteris sp. together with equisetaceous stems constitute about 7.88% (72 specimens) of the total plant assemblage collected from this coalfield. Among the pteridophytes, equisetaceous stems are most abundant (40.3%; 29 specimens) followed by
Schizoneura gondwanensis (20.8%, 15 specimens) and
Trizygia speciosa (13.9%, 10 specimens). A summary of the known diversity of pteridophytes in the Indian Permian as a whole is provided. Barakar Formation exposures have been assigned to a lower and upper series based on possession of different floristic assemblages. Pteridophytes do not occur in the lower series. On this basis the beds of Lajkura, Jurabaga collieries, Ratanpur Fireclay Quarry and the locality near Belpahar Railway Station with pteridophyte fossils are assigned to the upper Barakar Formation (late Artinskian). Based on assemblages containing different pteridophytes, beds exposed at Sitaram and Dungri Pahar are assigned to the lower Kamthi Formation (Lopingian). The floristic composition suggests a palaeoclimatic shift from temperate warm moist to warm dry conditions during the late Artinskian and warm and humid during Lopingian. The Permian pteridophytes grew in semi-aquatic conditions, i.e. in marshy places around small ponds, lakes and river-banks.
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Witness to Marvels traces the development of a unique genre of Sufi-inspired Bengali romances called pir kathas, whose protagonists and plots are wholly fictive. For five centuries these fabulations ...have parodied indigenous and Hindu textual traditions. Both mimicking and mocking, these parodies adopted a subjunctive tone, exploring a magical world of ‘what-if’. They created an Islam-inflected space within a traditional Bengali cultural environment without trying to legislate what ideally ‘should be’ according to tropes common to Islamic history, theology, and law. The tales’ discursive arena, the imaginaire, delineated the realm of possibility for how these tales might exercise the imagination to integrate Hindu and Islamic cosmologies. Tales insinuated themselves into locally relevant discourses through elaborate intertextual connections, subtly shifting presuppositions about the way the world works and what counts as religious authority. As Allah looked on from heaven, the tales routinely assigned Sufi saints, both pirs and bibis, to the pivotal role of avatar, the periodic descent of divinity, equating them to the Hindu god Narayan. Adopting a semiotic strategy to interpret these tales yields a bold new perspective on the subtle ways Islam assumed its distinctive form in Bengal and suggests how we need to reimagine conversion in this region.
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