Anastrepha ludens

Common name  

Mexican fruit fly

Description

Typical of Anastrepha larvae with the following specific characteristics for the third instar:

Body. Length 5.8–11.1 mm.

Head. Number of oral ridges 11–17; margins entire (or slightly undulant). Accessory plates small, interlocking with outer edges of oral ridges. Stomal organ peg sensilla unbranched; other peg-sensilla-like structures absent.

Cephalopharyngeal skeleton.

Spinules and creeping welts. Dorsal spinules on segments T1-T3 or T1-A1.

Anterior spiracles. Anterior spiracular tubules 12–21 in a single irregular row.

Caudal segment (A8) and anal lobes. Anal lobes plainly visible, but not protuberant; usually distinctly bifid.

Posterior spiracles. Slits 3.1–4.6x longer than wide. Dorsal spiracular processes each with 6–13 trunks. Lateral spiracular processes with 4–7 trunks. Dorsal and ventral spiracular processes: average number of tips 17–28. Dorsal and ventral spiracular processes: ratio of number of tips to number of trunks 1.5–3.5.

Host plants

Highly polyphagous, infesting at least the following families and genera:*

Family	Genus
Anacardiaceae	Anacardium, Mangifera, Spondias
Annonaceae	Annona
Callophylaceae	Mammea
Caricaceae	Carica
Combretaceae	Terminalia
Ebenaceae	Diospyros
Fabaceae	Inga
Lauraceae	Persea
Lythraceae	Punica
Myrtaceae	Psidium, Syzygium
Passifloraceae	Passiflora
Rosaceae	Cydonia, Malus, Prunus, Pyrus
Rubiaceae	Coffea
Rutaceae	Casimiroa, Citrus
Sapindaceae	Melicoccus
Sapotaceae	Sideroxylon
Solanaceae	Capsicum

 

*See Liquido et al. (2017)

Part of plant attacked: fruit.

Biogeographic region and distribution

Neotropical

USA: chronic invasions into southern border areas of California and Texas.
Mexico.
Central America: south to Panama.

Status of knowledge

The egg, all instars and puparium were described by Carroll and Wharton (1989). Additional data were incorporated into the key of Carroll et al. (2004+).
 

Specimens examined

Based on description by Carroll and Wharton (1989) and unpublished data. ex culture (n=30, Texas A&M University); Chiapas.

Adult taxonomy

Anastrepha ludens (Loew)
Trypeta ludens Loew 1873: 223.—Mexico. LT ♂ NMW. Lectotype designated by Foote, Blanc & Norrbom 1993: 98.
Anastrepha lathana Stone 1942: 105.—Mexico. Morelos: Cuernavaca. HT ♀ USNM.
 

References

Carroll, L. E. and R. Wharton. 1989. Morphology of the immature stages of Anastrepha ludens (Diptera: Tephritidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 82: 201-214.

Carroll, L. E., A. L. Norrbom, M. J. Dallwitz, and F. C. Thompson. 2004 onwards. Pest fruit flies of the world – larvae. Version: 8th December 2006. http://delta-intkey.com.

Liquido, N. J., A. L. Norrbom, S. A. Marnell, A. A. McGuigan, J. R. Inskeep, A. L. Birnbaum, A. J. Ching, M. A. Hanlin, and K. L. K. Lee. 2017. Host plant records of Anastrepha ludens Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae), Version 2.1. Available online at: USDA Compendium of Fruit Fly Host Information (CoFFHI), Edition 3.0, https://coffhi.cphst.org/.