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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #280698
Title: New species of Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae), with a key for the species of the megacantha clade

Author
item Norrbom, Allen
item KORYTKOWSKI, C. - Universidad De Panama

Submitted to: Zootaxa
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/14/2012
Publication Date: 9/11/2012
Citation: Norrbom, A.L., Korytkowski, C.A. 2012. New species of Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae), with a key for the species of the megacantha clade. Zootaxa. 3478:510-552.

Interpretive Summary: The family of true fruit flies includes numerous major agricultural pests throughout the world. The majority of species that are pests in the American tropics and subtropics, and that threaten fruit industries in the southern United States, belong to a large group that contains more than 200 species. Precise taxonomic data are necessary to recognize the pest species in this group. In this paper, 13 species from Central and South America are recognized and described for the first time, and identification tools, descriptions and illustrations, are provided for these species. The ability to recognize them is essential to regulatory agencies such as APHIS-PPQ to prevent the spread of pest species. The information provided will also be valuable to scientists studying the biology and control of pest fruit fly species.

Technical Abstract: Thirteen new species of Anastrepha are described and illustrated: A. anopla (Brazil, Ecuador), A. grandicarina (Brazil, Ecuador, Perú), A. hadracantha (Ecuador), A. haplacantha (Ecuador), A. hyperacantha (Ecuador), A. inaequalis (Trinidad), A. intermedia (Panamá), A. lopezi (Guatemala), A. macracantha (Ecuador), A. magnicurva (Ecuador, Perú), A. neogigantea (Ecuador), A. peneramosa (Perú), and A. stangei (Venezuela). A key for the species of the megacantha clade is provided. Pouteria buenaventurensis (Sapotaceae) is reported as a host plant for A. intermedia.