Rhagoletis pomonella

Common name  

apple maggot

Description

Typical of Rhagoletis larvae with the following specific characteristics for the 3rd instar:

Body. Medium-sized; body length 8-11 mm.

Head. Cephalic lobes slightly developed.

Stomal organ: One small peg sensillum present; other peg-sensilla-like structures absent.

Stomal region: 2 large sclerotized stomal guards present; number of sclerotized stomal guards varies. Short oral ridges present; number of oral ridges 5–7; margins entire. Accessory plates absent.

Cephalopharyngeal skeleton. Mandibles: subapical teeth absent.

Anterior spiracles. Anterior spiracle convex to flat. Number of anterior spiracular tubules 17–25; in two irregular rows.

Spinules and creeping welts. Dorsal spinules with an unusual distribution; on segments T2-A8.

Caudal segment (A8) and anal lobes. Anal lobes simple; either very protuberant, or plainly visible but not protuberant.

Posterior spiracles. Slits 4x longer than wide. Dorsal spiracular processes of medium length; number of trunks highly variable. Number of dorsal spiracular processes 9–16. Number of ventral spiracular processes 9–16. Number of lateral spiracular processes 6–10.

Host plants

Polyphagous, infesting at least the following genera:*

Family	Genus
Rosaceae	Amelanchier, Aronia, Cotoneaster, Crataegus, Malus, Prunus, Pyracantha, Pyrus, Rosa, Sorbus

*See Wee and Norrbom et al. (2017).

Part of plant attacked: fruit.

Biogeographic region and distribution

Nearctic

Canada to Mexico (Manitoba and Nova Scotia to Texas and Florida; Utah; Colorado; Coahuila to Michoacan; introd. Washington to California).

Adult taxonomy

Rhagoletis pomonella Walsh
Trypeta pomonella Walsh 1867: 343.—USA. Illinois. LT ♀ MCZ. Lectotype designated by Bush 1966: 457.
Trypeta albiscutellata Harris 1835: 600.—Nomen nudum. T A MCZ. Attributed to Say; see Johnson 1925:97.
 

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.

Wee, W. L., and A. L. Norrbom. 2017. Provisional list of suitable host plants of the apple maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh) (Diptera: Tephritidae), Version 1.1. Available online at: USDA Compendium of Fruit Fly Host Information (CoFFHI), Edition 3.0, https://coffhi.cphst.org/.

White, I. M., and M. M. Elson-Harris. 1992. Fruit flies of economic significance: their identification and bionomics. CAB International; Wallingford, UK. 601 p.