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Publication #EENY264

 

Fruit Fly, Anastrepha edentata Stone (Insecta: Diptera: Tephritidae)1

H. V. Weems Jr.2

Introduction

Anastrepha edentata Stone has been collected in the Florida keys in every month of the year, but its host plants still are unknown. It is one of six species of fruit flies of the genus Anastrepha, which occur in Florida or which have been established in Florida at some time. According to Division of Plant Industry records, it has not been found in Florida since 1936. There is a possibility that this species has not survived in Florida. It is not considered to be of economic importance anywhere within its range.

Distribution

Known in Florida and Puerto Rico. In Florida this species has been recorded from Key Largo Key to Key West. There is a record for Redlands, Dade County, Florida. The type locality is Key Largo, Florida.

Figure 1. 

Distribution of the fruit fly, Anastrepha edentata Stone, in Florida.


Credit: G.J. Steck and B.D. Sutton, Division of Plant Industry
[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Description

This is a small, yellow-brown fly with patterned wings. The female has a long, slender ovipositor sheath and very slender ovipositor, which readily distinguishes it from other Anastrepha species recorded from Florida.

The head is yellow with the frontal bristles and ocellar triangle black, while the antennae are yellow. The humerus has a very narrow median strip widening abruptly on the mesoscutum posteriorly. The lateral stripes from the transverse suture to scutellum and scutellum are pale yellow. The metanotum is entirely yellow brown. The Macrochaetae are black, with the pile a pale yellow brown. The legs are yellow.

The wing pattern is partly yellowish, partly brownish infuscated, and is somewhat variable. In some specimens, the inverted V band is connected at its apex with the S band on the anterior portion of the wing, while in others the inverted V band is separated from the S band; but usually it is complete and joined to the S band. The costal and 3 bands are widely separated on vein R4+5 but on vein R2+3 they vary from widely separated to connected here, or all of R1 infuscated between the two bands.

Figure 2. 

Adult female Anastrepha edentata Stone, a fruit fly.


Credit: Division of Plant Industry
[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Figure 3. 

Ovipositor tip.


Credit: Division of Plant Industry
[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Life Cycle

The life history of Anastrepha edentata has not been ascertained.

Hosts

Unknown.

Selected References

State Plant Board of Florida Eleventh Biennial Report for the period July 1, 1934-June 30, 1936. Jan. 1937. pp. 20-21. Anastrepha sp. "F," Brown.

Stone A. 1942. The Fruit Flies of the Genus Anastrepha. U.S. Department of Agriculture Miscellaneous Publication No. 439, Washington, D.C. 112 pp.

Footnotes

1.

This document is EENY-264 (originally published as DPI Entomology Circular 76), one of a series of Featured Creatures from the Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published: January 2002. Reviewed: March 2011. Revised: March 2012. This document is also available on Featured Creatures website at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures. Please visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu. Additional information on these organisms, including many color photographs, is available at the Entomology and Nematology Department website at http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/.

2.

H. V. Weems Jr., retired, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville, FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, Dean.