Anastrepha tehuacana Norrbom

Norrbom, Allen L., Castillo-Meza, Ana Lucía, García-Chávez, Juan Héctor, Aluja, Martín & Rull, Juan, 2014, A new species of Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae) from Euphorbia tehuacana (Euphorbiaceae) in Mexico, Zootaxa 3780 (3), pp. 567-576 : 568-575

Anastrepha tehuacana Norrbom , new species

Figs. 1–15 , 19

Diagnosis. Anastrepha tehuacana differs from most other species of Anastrepha in having a dark brown spot on the posterior margin of the thorax, posteroventral to the intra-alar seta (not to be confused with the normal brown spot posterior to the wing base). In this character and most others, it resembles Anastrepha relicta Hernández-Ortiz (2004) , but it differs in terminalia length (oviscape 5.14–5.65 mm long, 1.49–1.72 times as long as mesonotum versus 3.10 mm long, 0.99 times as long as mesonotum in A. relicta ; phallus 7.2–8.7 mm long, 2.49–2.70 times as long as mesonotum versus 3.10 mm long, 1.03 times times mesonotum in A. relicta ), having the S-band and V-band connected, vein M more strongly sinuate distal to crossvein bm-cu, the hyaline areas between the S-band and Vband in cells r4+5, dm and cu1 largely nonmicrotrichose, and usually lacking the presutural supra-alar seta. Nonmicrotrichose areas between the S-band and V-band occur rarely in Anastrepha , although this character has not been investigated for many species; they occur in Anastrepha magna Norrbom (large) and A. protuberans Norrbom & Korytkowski (small or absent).

Description. Mostly yellow to orange. Setae dark red brown to black.

Head ( Figs. 1–2 ): Yellow to orange except brown ocellar tubercle. 3–5 frontal setae; usually 2 orbital setae (1 of 25 specimens with 1), posterior seta well developed. Ocellar seta weak, as long as to slightly longer than ocellar tubercle. Facial carina, in profile, straight on dorsal two-thirds. Gena relatively broad, ratio of genal height/long diameter of eye 0.32–0.36 (n=5). Antenna not extended to ventral facial margin. Palpus in lateral view dorsally curved, evenly setulose.

Thorax ( Figs. 1, 3, 4 ): Mostly yellow to orange, with following areas white to pale yellow (sometimes poorly differentiated): postpronotal lobe; very slender medial scutal vitta, posteriorly not extended laterally to level of acrostichal seta; very slender sublateral scutal vitta from transverse suture to or almost to intra-alar seta or to posterior margin; scutellum at least medially, apically, and on basolateral corner; dorsal margin of anepisternum; posterodorsal corner of katepisternum; katepimeron; dorsal half of katatergite and most of anatergite. Scutum mostly dark orange, with large paired dark brown spot posteroventral to intra-alar seta. Scutellum with non-white areas (i.e., basal margin, except laterally, extending to apical margin between basal and apical setae) usually dark orange to redish brown. Pleuron mostly yellow to pale orange. Subscutellum with large dark brown spot laterally, equal or subequal in width to medial orange area. Mediotergite entirely dark orange. Mesonotum 2.67–3.50 mm long. Postpronotal lobe, notopleuron, and scutellum entirely microtrichose; scutum nonmicrotrichose except narrowly laterally and along transverse suture; scutal setulae mostly orange, slightly darker laterally. Presutural supra-alar seta usually absent (present, although usually small, on both sides in 1 and on 1 side in 8 of 25 specimens); anterior notopleural seta occasionally absent (on both sides in 4 or on 1 side in 5 of 25 specimens); chaetotaxy otherwise typical for genus. Katepisternal seta weak, brown, less than one-third length of anepisternal seta.

Legs: Entirely yellow to orange.

Wing ( Figs. 6–8 ): Length 6.89–8.74 mm, width 2.57–3.24 mm, ratio 2.63–2.84. Apex of vein R1 at 0.55–0.58 wing length, proximal to level of anterior end of crossvein r-m. Cell c 1.03–1.16 times as long as pterostigma; pterostigma 4.29–4.81 times as long as wide. Vein R2+3 not sinuous. Vein M relatively sinuous distal to crossvein bm-cu. Crossvein r-m at 0.68–0.70 distance from bm-cu to dm-cu on vein M. Vein M relatively weakly curved apically; cell r4+5 1.14–1.28 times as wide at apex as at level of dm-cu. Cell bcu with distal lobe relatively short, length of bcu 1.26–1.48 times as long as anterior margin, lobe 0.40–0.48 times as long as vein A1+Cu2. Hyaline areas between S-band and V-band in cells r4+5, dm and cu1 largely nonmicrotrichose. Wing pattern mostly orange and moderate brown. C-band mostly orange, without hyaline area in cell c; pterostigma, medially and apically in cell br, and sometimes narrowly apically in cells r1 and r2+3 orange brown to brown. C-band and S-band well separated, hyaline band between them extended to Costa. Basal hyaline area in cell dm relatively large. Basal half of S-band mostly orange, margins except proximal margin in cell dm mostly narrowly brown, and more than half of band in cell cu1 brown, posterior margin without or with weak incision in cell cu1; distal section narrowly brown on anterior margin and parts of posterior margin and in cell r4+5, relatively broad, at apex of vein R2+3 0.85–1.00 times width of cell r2+3, not extended to apex of vein M; hyaline area proximal to apex of band extended to vein R2+3. Vband with proximal arm of medium width, largely brown, orange except narrowly on proximal margin in cell r4+5 and narrowly to broadly borderning crossvein dm-cu; narrowly connected to S-band along vein R4+5; on posterior margin extended two-thirds to three-fourths distance to vein A1+Cu2; distal arm slender, mostly brown except anteriorly, connected to proximal arm.

Abdomen: Mostly orange, without brown markings.

Male terminalia ( Figs. 9–10 ): Epandrium on posterodorsal margin with narrow, V-shaped medial indentation. Lateral surstylus relatively short, extended beyond prensisetae by 1.25–1.5 times length of prensiseta; in lateral view subtriangular, tapering evenly to blunt apex; in posterior view subtriangular, apex narrowly rounded, medial margin slightly convex, lateral margin slightly concave subapically. Proctiger sclerotization weak except basoventrally, ventral and lateral sclerotized areas weakly connected but lateral areas separate dorsally. Phallus 7.2–8.7 mm long, 2.49–2.70 times as long as mesonotum; glans 0.7 mm long.

Female terminalia: Oviscape ( Figs. 1 , 11 ) 5.14–5.65 mm long, 1.49–1.72 times as long as mesonotum, straight in lateral view; entirely orange; spiracle at basal 0.18–0.21; setulae on apical 1 mm short and dense. Eversible membrane ( Fig. 11 ) with 10–12 short hooklike dorsobasal denticles distally in 1–2 irregular rows, separated by membranous area from a few small denticles more anteriorly (basally). Aculeus ( Fig. 12 ) slightly ventrally curved in lateral view, 4.88–5.35 mm long, 0.95–0.98 times oviscape length; in ventral view base slightly expanded, 0.18– 0.21 mm wide, shaft 0.11 mm wide at midlength; tip ( Figs. 13–14 ) 0.14–0.16 mm long, 0.03 times aculeus length, 0.05–0.07 mm wide, 2.00–3.20 times as long as wide; in ventral view narrowly triangular, evenly tapered, nonserrate, 0.05–0.06 mm wide in lateral view, 0.86–1.22 times ventral width. Spermathecae not examined.

Egg (37 dissected from abdomen of USNMENT00671831, Fig. 15 ): Similar in shape to A. cordata . Slender, 3.0– 3.5 mm long, 0.30 mm wide at broadest point, slightly curved, posterior end strongly tapered to slender point. Anterior end without lobe distal to micropyle. Micropyle nipple-shaped.

Distribution. Anastrepha tehuacana is known only from Mexico (Puebla).

Biology. The only known host plant is Euphorbia tehuacana (Brandegee) V.W. Steinm. (Euphorbiaceae) . This plant occurs only in xerophitic brush areas of the Tehuacan-Cuicatlan floristic region in central Mexico and is restricted to the border areas of the states of Puebla and Oaxaca ( Steinmann 2003). Within this reduced range the plant is not very abundant and can therefore be considered as rare sensu Rabinowitz (1981). Additionally it is considered as threatened (Olsen et al. 2005) as some sites in herbarium records now appear to be devoid of the plant (Castillo-Meza 2010), which may explain why the fly has not been previously collected. All individuals recovered for this description were collected from an E. tehuacana population spanning over 107.81 ha in the northeastern limit of the Tehuacán urban area (elevation 1600–1870 m), outside the boundaries of the Reserva de la Biósfera Tehuacán-Cuicatlán protected area ( Fig. 16 ).

Euphorbia tehuacana is a 1.5–2 m high shrub ( Figs. 16–17 ), with thin stems ramified from its base and deciduous leaves. Its fruit ( Fig. 18 ) is a 15 mm long 19 mm wide pinkish spheroid capsule with ovoid, 7 mm long by 6 mm wide gray seeds ( Lomelí-Sención & Sahagún-Godínez 1993) contained in three individual valves ( Fig. 20 ). Flowering begins in mid June and goes on through November, and fruiting ocurrs from July to January (Castillo-Meza 2010). Seed dispersal is achieved through explosive dihesence of the valves ( Dressler 1957). Anastrepha tehuacana feeds in the seeds within the fruit of E. tehucana ( Fig. 20 ). Usually a single larva develops in each of three seeds per fruit (1– 3 larvae per fruit). Larvae exit seeds and pupate within 30 days and enter diapause. Adults emerge 7 to 8 months later and live an average of 78 days under constant temperature, with some individuals reaching up to 178 days of age. Egg-laying was observed in the field in August. All biological evidence suggests that A. tehuacana is univoltine and strictly monophagous.

Species of Euphorbiaceae are not commonly host plants for species of Anastrepha . A few species are specialists on euphorbs, including a clade within the spatulata group mainly on Manihot esculenta Crantz and A. acris Stone on Hippomane mancinella L. Seven of the generalist pest species ( A. distincta Greene , A. fraterculus (Wiedemann) , A. ludens (Loew) , A. obliqua (Macquart) , A. serpentina (Wiedemann) , A. striata Schiner , and A. suspensa (Loew)) also have been reported to attack some Euphorbiaceae species ( Norrbom 2004b). No Anastrepha species have been reported previously from species of Euphorbia .

Type data. Holotype ♀ ( IEXA, USNMENT00671827), MEXICO: Puebla: Tehuacán, Ejido de Santiago Tula, 18°29’26”N, 97°22’02”W, reared ex fruit of Euphorbia tehuacana collected 21 Nov 2008, E. Acosta. Paratypes: MEXICO: Puebla: Tehuacán, Ejido de Santiago Tula, 18°29’26”N, 97°22’02”W, reared ex fruit of Euphorbia tehuacana collected 21 Nov 2008, E. Acosta, 15♂ 13♀ % ( IEXA, USNM); Ejido de Santiago Tula, 18°29'13"N 97°22'05"W, emerged Jun – Dec 2013 from larvae in seeds of fruit of Euphorbia tehuacana collected Nov 2012, A. L. Castillo Meza & J. H. García Chávez , 13♂ 23♀ ( IEXA).

Etymology. The name of this species is an adjective based on the name of the host plant.

Comments. This species appears to be most closely related to A. relicta Hernández-Ortiz , known only from a single site (Tetela del Volcán) in Morelos, Mexico. The following putative synapomorphies support this relationship: scutum with dark brown spot posteroventral to intra-alar seta (unique); apical part of oviscape with more dense setulae (unique); and subscutellum with dark brown spot laterally (this state occurs in some other Anastrepha species, for example, various species in the fraterculus group). Because both species are known only from single sites, it is difficult to speculate about their evolutionary origin, but the collection sites for the two species are separated by a linear distance of 150 km and separated by the Popocatepetl volcano, the Sierra del Tentzo (18°48'05''N, 98°02'27''W) mountains and the Sierra de Tecamachalco (18°43'34”N, 97°32'42''W) mountains. Euphorbia tehucana does not occur in Tetela del Volcán, which is located on the southern slope of Popcatepetl where oak-pine forests prevail.

The barcoding region of the COI gene was sequenced for three individuals of A. tehuacana by Frey et al. (2013) (as ‘ Anastrepha sp. nov. ’).

Figures

FIGURES 20. Seeds of Euphorbia tehuacana with emergence holes of larvae of Anastrepha tehuacana.

FIGURES 1 – 4. Anastrepha tehuacana (Mexico: Ejido de Santiago Tula): 1, habitus, dorsal (USNMENT 00671823 - 24); 2, head, lateral (USNMENT 00671832); 3, thorax, lateral (USNMENT 00671832); 4, thorax, posterior (USNMENT 00671832).

FIGURES 5 – 15. 5, wing, Anastrepha relicta (Mexico: Tetela del Volcán); 6 – 15, A. tehuacana (Mexico: Ejido de Santiago Tula): 6 – 8, wings (USNMENT 00671830, USNMENT 00671831, USNMENT 00671832); 9 – 10, male terminalia, lateral and posterior (USNMENT 00671832); 11, eversible membrane, dorsal (USNMENT 00671828); 12, aculeus, ventral (USNMENT 00671828); 13 – 14, aculeus tip, ventral and lateral (USNMENT 00671828, USNMENT 00671831); 15, eggs (USNMENT 00671831).

FIGURES 18 – 19. 18, Inflorescence of Euphorbia tehuacana with fruits; 19, Female Anastrepha tehuacana on flower of E. tehuacana.

FIGURES 16 – 17. 16, Habitat of Anastrepha tehuacana and Euphorbia tehuacana; 17, Plant of E. tehuacana.