Exceptional larval morphology of nine species of the anastrepha mucronota species group (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Authors: RODRIGUEZ, E - Florida Department Of Agriculture And Consumer Services; STECK, G - Florida Department Of Agriculture And Consumer Services; MOORE, M - Florida Department Of Agriculture And Consumer Services; Norrbom, Allen; DIAZ, J - University Of Florida; SOMMA, LOUIS - Florida Department Of Agriculture And Consumer Services; RUIZ-ARCE, RAUL - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); SUTTON, B - Florida Department Of Agriculture And Consumer Services; NOLAZCO ALVARADO, NORMA - La Molina National Agrarian University; BRANHAM, MARC - University Of Florida

Submitted to: Insect Systematics and Diversity
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/4/2022
Publication Date: 11/3/2022
Citation: Rodriguez, E.J., Steck, G.J., Moore, M., Norrbom, A.L., Diaz, J., Somma, L.A., Ruiz-Arce, R., Sutton, B.D., Nolazco Alvarado, N., Branham, M. 2022. Exceptional larval morphology of nine species of the anastrepha mucronota species group (Diptera: Tephritidae). Insect Systematics and Diversity. 1127:155-215. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1127.84628.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1127.84628

Interpretive Summary: True fruit flies occur worldwide and include exotic numerous crop pests that are threats to American agriculture. Knowledge of how to recognize each species is critical to detect any new species that may arrive in the USA. Diagnostic information for the largest group of true fruit flies in Central and South America is based mostly on the adults; the larvae, which are the stage most frequently encountered in ports-of-entry, are pooly known. In this paper, the larvae of nine of these species are described for the first time and diagnostic information is provided. This information will be useful to APHIS-PPQ and other regulatory agencies responsible for preventing the spread of pest species.

Technical Abstract: Anastrepha is the most diverse and economically important genus of Tephritidae in the American tropics and subtropics. The striking morphology of the third instars of Anastrepha caballeroi Norrbom, Anastrepha crebra Stone, Anastrepha haplacantha Norrbom and Korytkowski, Anastrepha korytkowskii Norrbom, Anastrepha nolazcoae Norrbom and Korytkowski, and three newly discovered and as yet formally unnamed species (Anastrepha sp. Peru-82, Anastrepha sp. nr. protuberans, and Anastrepha sp. Sur-16), and the more typical morphology of Anastrepha aphelocentema Stone, are described using light and scanning electron microscopy. To contribute to a better understanding of the interspecific and intraspecific variation among species in the mucronota species group and facilitate phylogenetic studies, we integrate molecular and morphological techniques to confirm the identity and describe third instars. Larva-adult associations and the identification of described larvae were confirmed using DNA barcodes. We provide diagnostic characters to distinguish larvae among these nine species of the mucronota group and separate them from those of the 29 other Anastrepha species previously described. We introduce the vertical comb-like processes on the oral margin as a novel character, and the unusual character states, including: position and shape of the preoral lobe, and dentate or fringed posterior margins of the oral ridges and accessory plates. Our comparative morphology concurs with most previously inferred phylogenetic relationships within the mucronota group.