Ceratitis punctata

Description

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

Body. Medium-sized.

Anterior spiracles. Number of anterior spiracular tubules ~25.

Spinules and creeping welts. Dorsal spinules on segments T1-A1, or T1-A2.

Posterior spiracles. Slits 3x longer than wide.

Host plants

Family	Genus
Annonaceae	Annona
Apocynaceae	Carpodinus, Landolphia, Tabernaemontana, Voacanga*
Lecythidaceae	Napoleonaea
Malvaceae	Theobroma
Moraceae	Ficus
Sapotaceae	Chrysophyllum*

Asterisk indicates unconfirmed records, per De Meyer et al. (2002)

Part of plant attacked: fruit.

Biogeographic region and distribution

Afrotropical

Senegal to Cameroon, Congo, Zaire, Uganda, Kenya,
Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa.

Adult taxonomy

Ceratitis (Pardalaspis) punctata (Wiedemann)
Tephritis punctata Wiedemann 1824: 55.—“Guinea”. LT
♂️ NMW. Lectotype designation by inference of holotype by
Hardy 1968: 147, but also see Zimsen 1954: 28.
Tephritis senegalensis Macquart 1835[3073]: 468.—Senegal. T ♀️ MNHNP?

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, 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.