Terellia amberboae

Zarghani, Ebrahim, Khaghaninia, Samad, Namin, Saeed Mohamadzade & Korneyev, Valery A., 2017, Revision of Terellia amberboae group of species (Diptera: Tephritidae), Zootaxa 4221 (1), pp. 142-150 : 143

Terellia amberboae group of species

Diagnosis. Species of the amberboae group are superficially similar to T. serratulae (Linnaeus, 1758) in having pointed flagellomere 1, hyaline wing and mainly white setulose abdomen, differing from that species by anteriorly narrowed head (in profile), produced facial carina, apically acute first flagellomere, and light yellow setae of head and body without black spots at their bases.

Species of the amberboae group can be differentiated from all other species of the genus by the combination of the first flagellomere sharply pointed apicodorsally; wing with 1–3 large yellow or brown spots distally of vein R1 apex; mesonotum with wide black anteromedial and 2 narrowly separated posterolateral vittae, and no dark spots at the bases of any mesonotal setae; abdominal tergites shining yellow, each with 1 medial pair of rows of shining black spots, but no lateral spots; posterolateral margin of male tergite 5 entirely yellow.

By the discovery of the two new species, a new group, namely the amberboae group of species is established here. Its position within the genus Terellia remains unclear. It is possibly either related to the serratulae or virens groups of species (sharing light yellow setose and white setulose abdomen), or with the virens +megalopyge +colon cluster (sharing association with Centaurea and other Centaureineae), or even appearing as basal lineage to both of them, showing no unequivocal evidences in phylogenetic analyses based on morphological ( Korneyev, 1999) or molecular data (V. Korneyev, unpublished data).