Ceratitis fasciventris

Description

Typical of Ceratitis larvae and specifically similar to Ceratitis rosa, differing with the following characteristics for the third instar:

Body. Body length 3.2-6.8 mm.

Head. Stomal region: Number of oral ridges usually 10. Accessory plates weakly developed; parastomal sclerite straight to curved, not hooked apically; anterior sclerite present or absent. 

Cephalopharyngeal skeleton. Length 0.89–1.14 mm, mandible secondary tooth present, mandible tip to notch 0.52–0.60 mm, dorsal cornulength 0.37–0.43 mm, ventral cornu length 0.52–0.72 mm; mandible length a 0.21–0.23 mm, mandible length b 0.21–0.25 mm, mandible length c 0.15–0.16 mm, mandible height 0.14–0.16 mm; hypopharyngeal sclerite length 0.12–0.17 mm, dorsal arch height 0.25–0.30 mm;

Anterior spiracles. Number of anterior spiracular tubules 9-12; tubules closely spaced in a single slightly sinuous row; distal width 0.14–0.17 mm (n = 5);

Spinules and creeping welts. Segments T1-T2 with broken rows of weak, conical spinules on dorsal anterior margin; on T1 the spinulose area encircles the body, while on T2 the ventral spinulose area is separated from that of the dorsum

Caudal segment (A8) and anal lobes. Anal lobes grooved, lobes subequal or posterior lobe larger.

Posterior spiracles. Posterior spiracle rimae ca. 0.07 mm long; spiracular processes mostly unbranched to mostly branched, base of spiracular processes SP-I and SP-IV narrow, numbers of trunks and tips as follows; I (dorsal) (2-9, 3-14), II (2-4, 4-7), III (2-6, 4-9), IV (ventral) (4-8, 6-12).

Condensed diagnosis from Steck and Ekesi (2015):

Medium-sized muscidiform larvae with mandibular tooth ventrally grooved, with minute subapical mandibular tooth; usually with 10 oral ridges; accessory plates weakly developed; petal-like secondary stomal lobes present; sclerotized stomal guards absent; dorsal spinules present on segments T1-T2; anterior spiracles with 9-12 tubules in a single sinuous row; base of anterior spiracle cylindrical, ca. half as wide as apical width; posterior spiracles with rimae ca. 3 times longer than wide; spiracular processes mostly unbranched to mostly branched, with narrow bases; caudal ridge present; anal lobes grooved, lobes subequal or posterior lobe larger.

Host plants

Biogeographic region and distribution

Afrotropical

Zaire & Uganda to South Africa, Reunion, Mauritius.

Adult taxonomy

Ceratitis (Pterandrus) fasciventris Bezzi
Pterandrus rosa var. fasciventris Bezzi 1920: 228.—Uganda.
Entebbe. ST ♂️♀ BMNH.

References

Copeland, R.S., R. A. Wharton, Q. Luke, M. De Meyer, S. Lux, N. Zenz, P. Machera, and M. Okumu. 2006. Geographic distribution, host fruit, and parasitoids of African fruit fly pests Ceratitis anonae, Ceratitis cosyra, Ceratitis fasciventris, and Ceratitis rosa (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Kenya. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 99(2): 261-278.

De Meyer, M., R. S. Copeland, S. A. Lux, M. Mansell, S. Quilici, R. Wharton, I. M. White, and N. J. Zenz. 2002. Annotated check list of host plants for Afrotropical fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) of the genus Ceratitis (No. 27). MRAC; Tervuren, Belgium. 91 p.

Steck, G. J., and S. Ekesi. 2015. Description of third instar larvae of Ceratitis fasciventris, C. anonae, C. rosa(FAR complex) and C. capitata(Diptera, Tephritidae). ZooKeys, (540), 443.