Ceratitis cosyra
Common name
marula fruit fly, mango fruit flyDescription
Typical of Ceratitis larvae with the following specific characteristics for the third instar:
Body. Body length 6.5–7mm.
Head. Stomal region: Number of oral ridges 10–12; margins serrate, or scalloped (short, bluntly rounded teeth; ?).
Cephalopharyngeal skeleton. Mandibles: subapical teeth present; tooth much smaller than apical tooth, and delicate (?); with a single ventral tooth (?).
Spinules and creeping welts. Dorsal spinules on segments T1-T3.
Anterior spiracles. Anterior spiracular tubules 11–12.
Posterior spiracles. Posterior spiracles: slits 3–3.5x longer than wide. Number of dorsal spiracular processes 12–13 (?). Number of ventral spiracular processes 12–13 (?). Number of lateral spiracular processes 7–9 (?).
Host plants
| Family | Genus |
| Anacardiaceae | Mangifera, Sclerocarya |
| Anisophylleaceae | Anisophyllea |
| Annonaceae | Annona, Rollinia |
| Apocynaceae | Landolphia, Saba, Tabernaemontana |
| Canellaceae | Warburgia |
| Chrysobalanaceae | Parinari |
| Combretaceae | Terminalia |
| Fabaceae | Cordyla, Gliricidia |
| Lauraceae | Persea |
| Myrtaceae | Eugenia, Psidium |
| Passifloraceae | Adenia |
| Putranjivaceae | Drypetes |
| Rubiaceae | Sarcocephalus |
| Rutaceae | Citrus |
| Salicaceae | Dovyalis, Litchi |
Part of plant attacked: fruit.
Biogeographic region and distribution
AfrotropicalZaire and Tanzania south to South Africa, Madagascar.
Adult taxonomy
Ceratitis (Ceratalaspis) cosyra (Walker)
Trypeta cosyra Walker 1849: 1042.—Congo [Congo or Zaire]. LT ♀ BMNH. Lectotype designation by inference of holotype by Hardy 1966: 660.
Pardalaspis parinarii Hering 1935: 156.—Zaire. Shaba: Elisabethville [Lubumbashi]. ST ♂♀ BMNH. ST at ZSZMH destroyed.
References
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.
De Meyer, Marc, Robert S. Copeland, Slawomir A. Lux, Mervyn Mansell, Serge Quilici, Robert Wharton, Ian M. White, and Nikolaus J. Zenz. 2002. Annotated check list of host plants for Afrotropical fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) of the genus Ceratitis. Documentation Zoologiques Vol. 27. MRAC; Tervuren, Belgium. 91 p.
