Tephritidae flies associated with Chuquiraga avellanedae (Asteraceae) in Patagonia, Argentina

Authors: MARTINEZ, F. - Ifibyne (UBA-CONICET); Norrbom, Allen; SCHISERMAN, PABLO - Ifibyne (UBA-CONICET); CAMPANELLA, M. - Ifibyne (UBA-CONICET)

Submitted to: Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/4/2020
Publication Date: 10/13/2020
Citation: Martinez, F.J., Norrbom, A.L., Schiserman, P., Campanella, M.V. 2020. Tephritidae flies associated with Chuquiraga avellanedae (Asteraceae) in Patagonia, Argentina. Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Science. 92(e2019154):6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202020191524

Interpretive Summary: Fruit flies include some of the most important pests of fruits and vegetables, annually causing billions of dollars in losses worldwide. Other species are beneficial as biological control agents of weedy plants. To prevent the spread of the pest species and properly utilize the beneficial species, it is important to know how to distinguish all of the species and to know where they occur and what plants they attack. This publication provides new host information for two species which breed in flowerheads of a plant in the sunflower family that is of economic concern in rangeland in Argentina. This information will be useful to APHIS-PPQ and other regulatory agencies responsible for quarantines to prevent the spread of pest fruit flies and for detecting new pest introductions into the U.S.

Technical Abstract: Tephritidae are commonly known as fruit flies, but the larvae of the majority of species actually feed in other plant tissues. Nonfrugivorous Tephritidae include some pest species, but other species have been used for biological control of weedy plants. In Patagonia, knowledge about the interaction among tephritids and the native flora is very scarce. Chuquiraga avellanedae is an evergreen shrub of the Patagonian steppes that has increased in abundance as a consequence of sheep overgrazing. The objective of this study was to identify for the first time tephritid fly species associated with C. avellanedae. Cecidochares sp. and Neosphaeniscus m-nigrum were reared from capitula of C. avellanedae. Cecidochares sp. was more abundant and had a shorter development time than N. m-nigrum. Also, two families of parasitoid wasps were registered. Further studies are needed to understand the impact of these tephritid species on C. avellanedae fitness and their potential to control its populations.