New species and host plant records for Rhagoletis Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Authors: RODRIGUEZ-CLAVIJO, PEDRO - Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario; Norrbom, Allen; CAICEDO, GUADALUPE - José Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden Of Bogotá; AREVALO, E - Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario; BALSEIRO, FRANCISCO - Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario

Submitted to: Zootaxa
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/4/2021
Publication Date: 10/29/2021
Citation: Rodriguez-Clavijo, P.A., Norrbom, A.L., Caicedo, G., Arevalo, E., Balseiro, F. 2021. New species and host plant records for Rhagoletis Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae). Zootaxa. 5060:231-144. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5060.2.4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5060.2.4

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 their introduction to the U.S., knowledge of the taxomomy, distribution, and biology of all fruit flies is critical. This includes how to identify them, knowing where they occur, and which plants they attack. This paper describes and illustrates a previously unknown species from Colombia and reports new host plant and distribution information for 5 other species belonging to a group of flies that includes pests of apples, cherries, eggplant and tomato. This information will be useful to APHIS-PPQ and other regulatory agencies responsible for preventing the spread of pest species as well as scientists studying the biology and control of these flies.

Technical Abstract: Rhagoletis antioquiensis Rodriguez & Norrbom, a new species of fruit fly in the striatella species group of Rhagoletis Loew, is described and illustrated. New distribution records are reported for two other species of the striatella group: R. nicaraguensis Hernández-Ortiz & Frías, 2000 is reported from Costa Rica, and R. solanophaga Hernández-Ortiz & Frías, 2000 from Bolivia. A lectotype is designated for Urophora scutellaris Macquart, 1851 (= R. macquartii (Loew)). New host plant relationships for three species of Rhagoletis, all reared from fruits, are reported: Acnistus arborescens (L.) Schrtdl. and Witheringia solanacea L’Her for R. jamaicensis Foote, 1981 from Colombia; Lycianthes pseudolycioides (Chod. & Hassl.) Bitter for R. solanophaga from Bolivia; and Solanum pseudocapsicum L., Solanum tuberosum L. subsp. andigenum (Juz. & Burkasov) Hawkes, Solanum interandinum Bitter from Colombia and Solanum americanum Mill. in Peru for undetermined species of the psalida group. The key to species of the striatella group of Hernández-Ortiz & Frías (2000) is modified to include R. antioquiensis.