Tephritis stictica Loew 1862

Korneyev, Severyn V. & Korneyev, Valery A., 2019, Revision of the Old World species of the genus Tephritis (Diptera, Tephritidae) with a pair of isolated apical spots, Zootaxa 4584 (1), pp. 1-73 : 54-56

Tephritis stictica Loew 1862

( Figs 3b ; 31 )

Tephritis stictica Loew 1862: 109 ; Becker 1905: 141; Hendel 1927: 195; Séguy 1934: 165; Richter 1970: 168; Foote 1984: 134; Norrbom et al. 1999: 219; Merz 2001b: 95; Almeida & Korneyev 2010: 552.

Tephritis diotidis Rondani 1871: 12 (as a new replacement name for T. stictica Loew 1862 ; attributed to Dufour); Norrbom et al. 1999: 218.

Tephritis diotitis: Hendel 1927: 195 (misspelling of T. diotidis Rondani ); Norrbom et al. 1999: 219.

Type material: Syntypes ♂ ♀ “in Spanien und im südlichen Frankreich ” neither located, nor examined.

Non–type material. France: Corsica: Propriano, plage, ex Diotis maritima , 0 9.1973, 8♂, 5♀ (N. Rudet) ( MNHNP) ; Bastia , “ on Anthemis maritimus ”, 9.05.2000, 1♂, 1♀ (M. J. Gijswijt) ( RMNH) ; Greece: Mikonos, Ornos , 4 km ZZW, v. d. stad, 17.04.1874, 1♂, 1♀ (A. C. & W. N. Ellis) ( RMNH) ; Crete, Vathanios , 17.04.1991, 3♂, 1♀ (Merz & Eggenberger) ( SIZK) ; idem, Kato Gouves , 23.04.1991, 2♂, 1♀ (Merz & Eggenberger) ( NHMW, MNKB) ; Israel: 0 5.1981, 1♂, 1♀ (Freidberg) ( RMNH) ; Italy: Lucca , 1♂ (Haliday) (Coll. H. Loew) ( MNKB) ; “a. diotidis // Littore Ldt.” [red ink, Haliday style], “coll. H. Loew ”, golden paper square, 1♀ ( MNKB) ( Fig. 31b ) ; Tunisia: Hammamet—plage. 3– 17.06.1973, 4♀ (M. C. & G. Kruseman) ( RMNH) .

Diagnosis. Grey, moderately small species (BL 4.0– 4.5 mm; WL 3.4–3.9 mm), easily differentiated from other Tephritis species having narrow, radiate apical spots sometimes connected to each other, by the following unique character: pair of spots at the wing apex are narrow and elongated (can be connected to each other). It is similar in wing pattern to T. hyoscyami and T. postica but has a much smaller, short oviscape and 3 dark, narrow bars in cu cell, which is usual for species related to T. dioscurea or T. nigricauda .

Tephritis stictica can be separated from other Tephritis species by the following combination of characters: wing with large partly confluent hyaline spots separated by narrow pale brownish grey areas, 2 dark spots at the apices of R 4+5 and M veins narrow and strip-like, often narrowly connected to each other, cell r 1 with 2 subequal large hyaline spots distal of apex of vein R 1; large hyaline spots in r 1 and r 2+3 widely touching to form bold Mshaped mark, hyaline spot posterior of vein R 2+3 apex entirely confluent with large preapical hyaline area; hyaline spot proximally of crossvein r-m in cell r 2+3 moderately large; crossvein r-m surrounded by 2–4 round hyaline spots; basal halves of cells dm and cua with brown bars isolated from each other and at most narrowly connected with the black spot on vein A 1 +Cu 2; medial brown bar in cell cua narrow, twice as long as its minimum width; abdominal tergites dark brown, white setulose and setose; oviscape black and partly white setulose, much shorter than tergites 4–6.

T. stictica is similar to T. hendeliana , T. hyoscyami , T. postica in having a greyish wing pattern with 2 large hyaline spots in cell r 1 and partly confluent large hyaline spots, differing from them by smaller size (WL ♂ <3.6 mm; WL ♀ <3.9 mm, whereas in compared species WL ♂> 3.8 mm; WL ♀> 3.9 mm), hyaline area posterior of vein R 2+3 apex entirely confluent with large preapical hyaline area (isolated hyaline spot in dark field posterior of R 2+3 apex in compared species); oviscape short, as long as tergites 5 and 6 combined, black (longer than tergites 4–6 combined, often partially reddish in compared species).

Tephritis stictica is similar to T. angustipennis , T. dioscurea , T. nigricauda , T. tanaceti and related species of smaller (WL<4 mm) size with 2 hyaline spots in cell r 1 and oviscape shorter than tergites 4–6 combined, and larvae feeding in the plants of the tribe Anthemideae , differing from them by the hyaline area posterior of vein R 2+3 apex entirely confluent with large preapical hyaline area and both dark spots at apices of R 4+5 and M veins isolated from the remaining wing pattern (usually fused with the other dark pattern in compared species, if rarely separated from it in T. nigricauda then the hyaline spot posterior of R 2+3 apex isolated within the wide dark field in compared species).

Redescription. Head: Yellow with black ocellar triangle and occiput. Shape as in most other Tephritis species, length: height: width ratio 1: 1.1: 1.54. Frons as wide as long. Eye 1.3 × as high as long. First flagellomere of antenna 1.6 × as long as wide. Gena 0.55 × as high as length of first flagellomere. Ocellar, medial vertical, anterior orbital and frontal setae brown; other setae including posterior orbital white to yellowish white; postocular and genal setulae mixed black and white, setulae on distal part of palpus and on pedicel black. Antenna yellow to dark ochreous, sometimes reddish, arista brown except reddish base.

Thorax: Scutum, scutellum and pleural sclerites black, postpronotal lobes, notopleura and dorsal part of anepisternum yellowish brown; grey microtrichose. Scutellum medially black, laterally and ventrolaterally yellow. Thoracic setae usual for Tephritis , dark brown or black (posterior anepisternal and anepimeral setae brown), except posterior notopleural seta white and lanceolate. Apical scutellar seta 1/3 as long as basal scutellar seta. Calypteres white, with whitish fringe; upper calypters conspicuously lobate; Almost as long as wide, lower calypter narrow. Halter yellow.

Legs: Yellow, femora sometimes brown; fore femur with 2 rows of posterodorsal setae, of them basal 3–5 white, and others brown to black, and 1 row of longer posteroventral setae, white in basal half (5–7 setae) and brown in apical half (6–7 setae). Hind tibia with parallel rows of yellow to dark brown or black setulae and distinct anterodorsal row of dark brown to black setae on basal 2/3, longest seta about as long as width of tibia; hind femur with black setulae on dorsum.

Wing ( Fig. 3b ): Cells bm and bcu hyaline; cell c with brown bar at middle. Pterostigma brown, with single hyaline subapical spot. Cell r 1 with hyaline base, entirely brown posterior to pterostigma, 2 subequal wide marginal hyaline spots separated by narrow brown bar. Cell r 2+3 with hyaline base, brown area posterior to pterostigma, 3 hyaline spots posterior to spots in r 1 separated by narrow dark bars, medial spot twice as wide as other 2; preapical brown area (posterior to cell r 1 apex) narrow and usually with 1 or 2 hyaline spots; hyaline spot posterior of R 2+3 apex entirely fused with subapical hyaline area. Cell br hyaline at base and dark posterior to pterostigma, with 4–5 hyaline round spots. Crossvein r-m surrounded by 2 or 4 smaller hyaline spots. Cell r 4+5 with large hyaline transverse subrectangular spot anterior of crossvein dm-cu; medial one-third of cell brown, with 3–4 round hyaline spots; subapical area of cell with 2 narrow dark spots at apices of R 4+5 and M often connected to each other but isolated from remaining dark wing pattern. Cell dm hyaline at base, with 2 narrow dark bars at pterostigma level, large L-lshaped hyaline spot at r-m level and apex with round hyaline spots adjacent to dm-cu. Cell m narrowly dark at base, and 2 narrow isolated dark bars. Cell cua hyaline with 3 narrow dark bars, of them basal either isolated or narrowly connected to brown spot at fusion of CuA 2 with A 1. Anal cell and anal lobe hyaline.

Abdomen: tergites entirely black, grey microtrichose, white setulose and setose.

Genitalia: Male. Not dissected for examination. Female. Oviscape black, white setulose basoventrally and anterobasally from dorsal side, as long as abdominal tergites 5 and 6 combined ( Fig. 31a ). Aculeus 6 × as long as wide, apex blunt, inconspicuouly incised apically ( Figs 31 c–d). Eversible membrane with 2 pairs of taeniae 0.3 × as long as membrane itself; on ventral side membrane with blunt scales of different size ( Fig. 31e ). Spermathecae short, pear-like, 3 × as long as wide ( Fig. 31f ).

Measurements. Female. BL 4.0– 4.5 mm; WL 3.4–3.9 mm (n=5); AL 0.6–0.8 mm. Male. BL 3.3–3.6 mm; WL 3.3–3.6 mm (n=5).

Host plants. Larvae develop in flower heads of Achillea maritima (L.) Ehrend. & Y. P. Guo (= Otanthus maritimus, Diotis maritima ) (Freidberg & Kugler 1989).

Distribution. Albania ( Merz & Korneyev 2004), Greece, France ( Loew 1862; Séguy 1934), Italy ( Belcari et al. 1995), Israel (Freidberg & Kugler 1989), Spain ( Loew 1862), Tunisia, Turkey ( Koçak & Kemal 2009).

Remarks. Tephritis stictica is morphologically similar to the species of T. angustipennis group, and apparently is closely related, as they have a similarly shaped, short aculeus and are associated with host plants of the tribe Anthemideae . The other species of T. angustipennis group possess the “apical fork” connected to the dark wing pattern.

Figures

FIGURES 3a–h. Tephritis, spp. wings: a—T. truncata; b—T. stictica; c—T. arsenii; d—T. arsenii (paratype); e—T. ruralis; f— T. tridentata; g—T. conyzifoliae; h—T. crepidis. Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIGURES 31a–f. Tephritis stictica: a—habitus ♀; b—syntype (habitus); c—tip of aculeus, ventral view; d—aculeus, ventral view; e—eversible membrane, ventral view; f—spermathecae; scale scale bar = 0.5 mm.