Integrative approach reveals the identity of Brazilian specimens previously recognized as Anastrepha dissimilis Stone, 1942 (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Authors: Norrbom, Allen; RUIZ-ARCE, RAUL - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); STECK, G - Florida Department Of Agriculture And Consumer Services; MOORE, MATTHEW - Florida Department Of Agriculture And Consumer Services; WIEGMANN, BRIAN - North Carolina State University; RODRIGUEZ, E - Florida Department Of Agriculture And Consumer Services; BRANHAM, MARC - University Of Florida; SUTTON, B - Florida Department Of Agriculture And Consumer Services; MULLER, ALIES - Ministry Of Agriculture; GANGADIN, ANEEL - Anton De Kom University Of Suriname; CASSEL, BRIAN - North Carolina State University; LEDEZMA, L - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); TROYA, HENRY - Agrocalidad; NOLAZCO ALVARADO, NORMA - La Molina National Agrarian University; SAVARIS, MARCOANDRE - Luiz De Queiroz College Of Agriculture (ESALQ); CLIFFORD, KEIL - Pontificial Catholic University Of Ecuador

Submitted to: Zootaxa
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/23/2022
Publication Date: 1/13/2023
Citation: Norrbom, A.L., Ruiz-Arce, R., Steck, G.J., Moore, M., Wiegmann, B., Rodriguez, E.J., Branham, M., Sutton, B.D., Muller, A., Gangadin, A., Cassel, B., Ledezma, L., Troya, H., Nolazco Alvarado, N., Savaris, M., Clifford, K. 2023. Integrative approach reveals the identity of Brazilian specimens previously recognized as Anastrepha dissimilis Stone, 1942 (Diptera: Tephritidae). Zootaxa. 5228(3):317-336. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5228.3.5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5228.3.5

Interpretive Summary: True fruit flies include some of the most important insect pests of fruits and vegetables, including apple, citrus, mango and many other commercial crops. Most of the pests are exotic and preventing their spread to the USA is important to protect American agriculture. The largest group of fruit flies in tropical America includes more than 300 species, so diagnostic tools to distinguishing them and knowledge of the host plants and distribution of each species is critical to prevent their spread and design effective quarantine regulations. This paper clarifies the status of a pest of passion fruits in Brazil, which was long misidentified as another species. This new knowledge is useful to APHIS-PPQ and other regulatory agencies and scientists responsible for the regulation and control of fruit fly pests.

Technical Abstract: Anastrepha dissimilis is currently considered to be widely distributed in Brazil, occurring in 20 of 27 states. However, morphological differences between the holotype (from Plaisance, Haiti) and a paratype (from Pernambuco, Brazil) suggest that the Brazilian specimens are not A. dissimilis, because their aculeus tip is similar to the paratype not to the holotype. Therefore, considering the importance of integrative taxonomy for species delimitation, we used geometric and linear morphometrics and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I sequences integrated with the morphology of the aculeus tip to clarify the identity of Anastrepha dissimilis from multiple Brazilian localities. Morphological data show a uniform pattern among the Brazilian populations, with some variation among specimens from the south and northeast. In addition, the geometric and linear morphometrics suggest considerable geographic variation among these populations, showing the existence of at least two morphospecies. The molecular analysis revealed that specimens from Brazil previously identified as A. dissimilis belong to Anastrepha chiclayae Greene, with a genetic distance ranging from 0.00% to 0.015. According to our integrative analyses, specimens from Brazil identified as A. dissimilis actually belong to A. chiclayae. Therefore, we are recording for the first time the occurrence of A. chiclayae in Brazil, and that A. dissimilis is not present, clarifying the identity of this species in Brazil, and consequently reporting that A. dissimilis does not occur in Brazil.