Ceratitis quilicii
Description
Diagnostic characters taken from specimens that were identified as "C. rosa R2 (cold)" in Steck and Ekesi (2015).
This species is very similar to Ceratitis rosa and can be distinguished from C. rosa and other Ceratitis larvae by the following characters.
Head. Stomal organ: With 3-4 subtending petals and 2-3 medial petals (as compared to 2-4 subtending petals in C. rosa)
Stomal region: Number of oral ridges 8-11 (as compared to 8-12 in C. rosa). Accessory plates absent or present; number of plates 0-7; with variable shape; plates are either nubs, or short and linear, or well-developed, sometimes serrate,
Cephalopharyngeal skeleton. Total length 1.14-1.34 mm. Mandibles: Length from tip to notch 0.59-0.75 mm; dorsal cornu length 0.35-0.50 mm; ventral cornu length 0.72-0.95 mm; secondary tooth usually well-developed, but occasionally poorly developed or absent; length from mandible tip to posterior prominence 0.21-0.26 mm; length from tip to dorsal prominence 0.22-0.27 mm; length from tip to ventral prominence 0.14-0.19 mm; height from dorsal prominence to ventral prominence 0.15-0.18 mm; hypopharyngeal sclerite length 0.16-0.22 mm; dorsal arch 0.25-0.33 mm.
Anterior spiracles. Apical width 0.18-0.24 mm; tracheal width 0.08-0.12 mm; Number of tubules 10-13.
Caudal segment (A8) and anal lobes. Anal lobes grooved.
Posterior spiracles. Posterior spiracle slits ranging 0.07-0.09 mm in length, 0.02-0.03 mm in width; tracheal width 0.12-0.19 mm; ratio of width to slit length 0.15-0.63 on SP-I, 0.11-0.42 on SP-IV; Number of trunks 7-24 on SP-I, 3-7 on SP-II, 3-12 on SP-III, 4-17 on SP-IV; number of tips 11-38 on SP-I, 5-15 on SP-II, 5-21 on SP-III, 8-25 on SP-IV; ratio of trunks to tips 1.2-2.3 on SP-I, 1.2-3.2 on SP-IV; basal width 0.01-0.05 mm on SP-I, 0.01-0.04 mm on SP-IV.
Host plants
According to De Meyer et al. (2016): "The recent recognition that C. rosa s.lat. actually comprises two distinct species (see remarks below) requires a re-examination of all material previously reported under ‘C. rosa’ , including records on host use."
| Family | Genus |
| Myrtaceae | Psidium, Syzygium |
| Rosaceae | Eriobotrya, Malus, Prunus, Pyrus, Rubus |
| Rubiaceae | Coffea |
| Sapotaceae | Chrysophyllum, Englerophytum |
Biogeographic region and distribution
Afrotropical
Botswana, Kenya, Réunion Island, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe.
Adult taxonomy
Ceratitis (Pterandrus) quilicii De Meyer, Mwatawala & Virgilio
Ceratitis (Pterandrus) quilicii De Meyer, Mwatawala & Virgilio 2016: 3.—Tanzania: Nyandira. HT ♂️ RMCA
References
De Meyer M., Mwatawala M., Copeland R.S. & Virgilio M. 2016. Description of new Ceratitis species (Diptera: Tephritidae) from Africa, or how morphological and DNA data are complementary in discovering unknown species and matching sexes. European Journal of Taxonomy 233: 1–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2016.233
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.
