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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #335067
Research Project: Systematics of Flies of Importance in Agroecosystems and the Environment

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: Description of third instar larvae of Anastrepha curitis, Anastrepha pickeli and Anastrepha pulchra (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Author
item DUTRA, VIVIAN - University Of Bahia
item RONCHI-TELES, BEATRIZ - Instituto Nacional De Pesquisas Da Amazonia (INPA)
item STECK, GARY - Florida Department Of Agriculture
item RODRIGUEZ, ERICK - Florida Department Of Agriculture
item Norrbom, Allen
item SUTTON, BRUCE - Smithsonian Institute
item SILVA, JANISETE - Universidade Estadual De Santa Cruz

Submitted to: Annals of the Entomological Society of America
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/6/2017
Publication Date: 3/15/2018
Citation: Dutra, V., Ronchi-Teles, B., Steck, G.L., Rodriguez, E.J., Norrbom, A.L., Sutton, B.D., Silva, J.G. 2018. Description of third instar larvae of Anastrepha curitis, Anastrepha pickeli and Anastrepha pulchra (Diptera: Tephritidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 120:9-24.

Interpretive Summary: Fruit flies include some of the most important pests of fruits and vegetables worldwide. The majority of the pest species are exotic and are threats to American agriculture. To prevent the introduction of new pest fruit flies into the U.S., more rapid and reliable tools to identify all life stages of all fruit flies are needed, particularly for the larvae which are the stage most frequently intercepted at ports-of-entry. This paper provides identification tools (descriptions, illustrations) for the larvae of three species from South America that belong to the group with the most pest species in this region. This information will be used by APHIS-PPQ and other regulatory agencies to identify samples from detection programs so that if exotic pest species are introduced they can be promptly detected and eradicated.

Technical Abstract: We describe and illustrate for the first time the third instar larvae of three Anastrepha species, Anastrepha pickeli Lima, Anastrepha pulchra Stone, and Anastrepha curitis Stone, and also the second instar of A. curitis. Internal structures, such as the cephalopharyngeal skeleton and spiracles, and external features are described using optical and scanning electron microscopy. We describe characteristics of the ventral surface of the mandible for the first time for fruit fly larvae.