Bactrocera (Bactrocera) melanotus ( Coquillett, 1910 )

Leblanc, Luc, 2022, The dacine fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacini) of Oceania, Insecta Mundi 2022 (948), pp. 1-167 : 129-130

Bactrocera (Bactrocera) melanotus ( Coquillett, 1910)

(= Dacus rarotongae, Froggatt, 1910 )

Figure 45

Distribution ( Fig. 103 ). Cook Islands (Rarotonga, Mangaia, Mauke, Mitiaro, Atiu, Aitutaki).

Male lure. Cue-lure.

Host plants. Category B polyphagous fruit pest ( Vargas et al. 2015) bred from 31 host species in 18 families. ANA- CARDIACEAE: Mangifera indica . ANNONACEAE : Annona cherimola , A. squamosa . ARALIACEAE : Meryta pauciflora . CALOPHYLLACEAE : Calophyllum inophyllum . CARICACEAE : Carica papaya . COMBRETACEAE : Terminalia catappa . FABACEAE : Inocarpus fagifer . GENTIANACEAE : Fagraea berteroana . LAURACEAE : Persea americana . MELASTOMATACEAE : Melastoma sp. MORACEAE : Artocarpus altilis , A. heterophyllus . MYRTA- CEAE: Eugenia uniflora , Psidium cattleianum , P. guajava , Syzygium cumini , S. jambos . OXALIDACEAE : Averrhoa carambola . ROSACEAE : Eriobotrya japonica . RUBIACEAE : Coffea arabica , Guettarda speciosa , Morinda citrifolia . RUTACEAE : Citrus maxima , C. paradisi , C. reticulata , C. sinensis . SAPOTACEAE : Manilkara zapota . SOLANA- CEAE: Solanum lycopersicum , S. mauritianum , S. melongena .

Edible hosts common names. Avocado, breadfruit, cherimoya, coffee, common guava, eggplant, grapefruit, jackfruit, Java plum, loquat, mango, noni, orange, papaya, pomelo, rose-apple, sapodilla, starfruit, strawberry guava, sugar-apple, Surinam cherry, Tahitian chestnut, tangerine, tomato, tropical almond.

Biology. Adults mate between late morning and early afternoon, with increasing light intensity (Allwood 1997). Rate of development was studied by Kassim (1993). At 27°C in papaya, egg hatch starts after 36 hours, 79% of larvae have reached second instar by 72 hours, 88% reached third instar by 120 hours, larval popping starts by 156 hours, and 88% have exited host by 168 hours. Adult longevity is 30 weeks under lab conditions. Oviposition starts after three weeks and peaks during weeks 6 to 9, and a female lays 318 eggs over 126 days. This species is more common inland than in coastal areas, unlike B. xanthodes , and population peaks occur in the cooler months of June and July ( Leweniqila et al. 1997b; Purea et al. 1997). Monthly trapping data illustrated on Figure 117 , and published in Leweniqila et al. (1997b). It is parasitized by Fopius arisanus in the Cook Islands ( Vargas et al. 2012a).

Notes. Heat tolerance was studied in Cook Islands. Late eggs, near hatching time, are the most heat tolerant of all the species and development stages studied in the Pacific ( Waddell et al. 1997a, 1997b).

Figures

Figure 45. Bactrocera (Bactrocera) melanotus (Coquillett). A) Head. B) Head and scutum. C) Abdomen, female. D) Abdomen, male. E) Wing. F) Lateral view, female. G) Lateral view, male.

Figure 103. Distribution of polyphagous pest fruit flies in Oceania: Bactrocera curvipennis (Froggatt), B. passiflorae (Froggatt), B. passiflorae (species near), B. facialis (Coquillett), and B. melanotus (Coquillett). Photos by Steve Wilson and Gerald McCormak (B. melanotus). Drawing of B. sp. nr. passiflorae from Drew and Hancock (1995).

Figure 117. Mean (±SE) daily captures of Bactrocera melanotus (Coquillett) in cue-lure traps maintained in coastal, inland and forest trapping sites on Rarotonga Island (Cook Islands) between May 1991 and September 1992, based on 18 trapping sites (n = 306, mean FTD = 20.55).