Tephritis praecox (Loew, 1844)

Korneyev, S. V.,, Šalamon, I. & Korneyev, V. A., 2021, First record of Tephritis praecox (Diptera: Tephritidae), a pest of Calendula (Asteraceae), in Slovakia, Ukrainska Entomofaunistyka (Oxford, England) 12 (3), pp. 31-34 : 33-34

Tephritis praecox (Loew, 1844) ( Figs 3 –20)

Material examined. Slovakia, Trebišov , 48.607589ºN, 21.718052ºE, ex flower heads of Calendula offi cinalis , 14- 17.10.2021, 15♂, 16♀ (I.Šalamon) ( SIZK) .

Tephritis praecox has not been recorded either in Czech Republic, or in Slovakia ( Heřman & Kinkorová, 2009) yet, and was obviously introduced with the seed material purchased from a Czech company providing it. The flies are strictly oligophagous feeding only in Calendula spp. and having no other hosts in the wild nature. They are not severe pests of marigold flowers used predominantly to prepare an alcohol-based tincture, which is an antiseptic and wound-healing remedy or used in homeopathy. However, it clearly can survive Middle- European winters especially due to the global warming and persistently occur in its planting areas for ornamental or medical purposes. They are neither otherwise harmful nor dangerous as invasion species, having very strict host specialization. However, its population may grow from year to year in plantations and needs to be controlled.

The chalcid wasps of the family Torymidae (probably a Torymus sp. — Fig. 6) reared from Calendula flower heads

d

along with T. praecox , are apparently its parasitoids or hyperparasitoids, which can be natural enemies controlling T. praecox population.

The wing pattern of T. praecox may be variable in a few characters, which are often considered among important in the keys and diagnoses of Tephritis , but in this case, clearly showing variability (see Figs 7–16): a) pterostigma with hyaline spot or entirely dark (90% — 10%), b) cell r 2+3 proximally of crossvein r-m with a hyaline spot or entirely dark (80% — 20%), c) hyaline spots at apex of cell r 2+3 separated or fused (40% — 60%), d) hyaline dots aligned to crossvein r-m in cell br present or absent (80% — 20%), e) middle pair of hyaline spots in cell m 4 fused into single elongate spot or separate (70% — 30%).

Male genitalia (Figs 18–19) quite typical for the genus. Ovipositor: eversible membrane (Fig. 20) ventrally with moderately developed scales. Aculeus evenly tapered apically, without incisions or steps (Fig. 20). Spermatheca globose, with elongate neck longer than its apical part (Fig. 21).

Received 15.10.2021 Accepted 7.11.2021 Published 2.12.2021