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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #374125
Research Project: Systematics of Flies of Importance in Agroecosystems and the Environment

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: Descripción de una nueva especie de Anastrepha grupo curvicauda (Diptera: Tephritidae) [Description of a new species of the Anastrepha curvicauda species group (Diptera: Tephritidae)]

Author
item MARTINEZ-ALAVA, JAVIER - Universidad De Colombia
item SERNA, F. - Universidad De Colombia
item STECK, G. - Florida Department Of Agriculture And Consumer Services
item Norrbom, Allen

Submitted to: Revista U.D.C.A. Actualidad & Divulgación Científica
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/26/2020
Publication Date: 10/29/2020
Citation: Martinez-Alava, J.O., Serna, F., Steck, G.J., Norrbom, A.L. 2020. Descripción de una nueva especie de Anastrepha grupo curvicauda (Diptera: Tephritidae) [Description of a new species of the Anastrepha curvicauda species group (Diptera: Tephritidae)]. Revista U.D.C.A. Actualidad & Divulgación Científica. 23(2):1-13. https://doi.org/10.31910/rudca.v23.n2.2020.1451.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31910/rudca.v23.n2.2020.1451

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 300 species. Knowledge of which species occur in which countries and which plants each attacks is critical to effectively regulate trade with these countries and prevent the introduction of pest species into the USA. In this paper, a previously unknown species from Colombia is described. It is closely related to the papaya fruit fly and its larvae feed in fruit of a wild species in the papaya family. This information and the ability to recognize the pest and most similar species is essential to regulatory agencies such as APHIS-PPQ to prevent the spread of pest species.

Technical Abstract: We describe and illustrate Anastrepha ligiae, a new species of the Anastrepha curvicauda species group (Diptera: Tephritidae). Specimens were collected in the municipalities of Albán, Anolaima (Cundinamarca) and Vélez (Santander), Colombia. Some were captured with McPhail traps, and others were reared from papayuela, Vasconcellea pubescens A. DC. (Caricaceae). This plant is recorded for the first time as a host plant of the genus Anastrepha.