Paraphloeostiba gayndahensis MacLeay, 1871 was described from and is believed native to Australia, where it is widely distributed in native forests. It has been collected in New Zealand since 1944 and successively in parts of Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, and Germany since 1988. It is also established in southern California since at least 1995 in the vicinity of Santa Barbara. Although its chief microhabitat appears to be fermenting plant matter of various kinds and (in Australia) inflorescences of Araceae, in California it has been implicated as a welcome pollinator of cultivated Annona cherimola, the cherimoya. The species breeds very abundantly in rotting fallen fruits of various trees. Laboratory rearing was successful through the full life cycle; both adults and larvae fed on rotting cherimoya, rotting banana and the mold growing on it, Drosophila sp. adults, and yeast-based Drosophila rearing medium.
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA