Authors and acknowledgments

AUTHORS

Here we list each author along with their contribution to the site.

Erick J. Rodriguez is a Research Scientist at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services - Division of Plant Industry (FDACS-DPI) and curator of Diptera at the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA), Gainesville, Florida. He was responsible for the character information used in the keys and most of the content in the fact sheets, anatomy, and glossary pages. He developed the structure of the keys and was responsible for the implementation of this identification tool. He is responsible for any comments or questions about the content of the site.

Gary J. Steck is a retired Research Scientist and fruit fly systematist at FDACS-DPI and Research Associate at the FSCA. He contributed character information and content to the fact sheets, and anatomy and glossary pages. He was principal investigator on a multi-year USDA Plant Protection Act project (“the Anastrepha Project”) to improve understanding of the taxonomy and biology of Anastrepha based on extensive field collections, morphological and molecular study of adults and larvae, and development of improved diagnostics tools, which resulted in implementation of this identification tool. 

Allen L. Norrbom is a Systematist at the Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Washington, D.C. He was a principal investigator on the Anastrepha Project and contributed to the development and implementation of this identification tool. 

Louis A. Somma is a Biological Scientist at FDACS-DPI and Research Associate at the FSCA. He took most of the SEM images and contributed to the development and implementation of this identification tool.

Matthew R. Moore is a Biological Scientist IV at the FDACS-DPI and leader of the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Gainesville, Florida. He was a collaborator on the Anastrepha Project and contributed to the development of the Anastrepha barcoding tool obtained by cytochrome c oxidase I (COI). He provided corroborating species level of identifications using COI sequencing for every larval specimen examined morphologically.

Nicholas A. Stylianou is a Biological Scientist I at the FDACS-DPI, Gainesville, Florida. He prepared specimens, took photos for many of the light microscopy images, and captured data for larval descriptions and this tool. 

Dale R. Traficante, Jr. is a Biological Scientist I at the FDACS-DPI, Gainesville, Florida. He prepared specimens, took photos for many of the light microscopy images, and captured data for larval descriptions and this tool. 

Jessica Diaz is a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Fruit and Vegetable Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Laboratory, Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida. She prepared specimens and took photos for the majority of the light microscopy images.

Marc A. Branham is a Professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida and Research Associate at the FSCA. He was a principal investigator on the Anastrepha Project and contributed to the development and implementation of this tool.

Raul Ruiz-Arce is a retired Supervisory Biologist at USDA-APHIS-PPQ- Science & Technology. He was a principal investigators and Authorized Departmental Officer’s Designated Representative for subprojects within the Anastrepha Project. He also provided molecular identification for adult and larval specimens examined morphologically by using COI sequencing.

Amanda J. Redford was a Tool Developer with the USDA-APHIS-Identification Technology Program. Amanda offered input on the tool’s progress, coordinated the design and development of the new website, and provided project management support from 2015-2023. 

Kojun Kanda is the Tool Developer with the USDA-APHIS-Identification Technology Program. Kojun coordinated the design and development of the new website and provided project management support. Please contact Kojun (email: Kojun.Kanda@usda.gov) with any comments or questions about the accessibility or functionality of the site.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Our attempt to develop a Lucid Key to fruit fly larvae was inspired by the fruit fly identification tool of: Lynn E. Carroll, Allen 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. Lynn Carroll produced the original version of the identification tool on a Delta/IntKey platform while employed with the USDA-ARS-Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Washington, D.C. during 1993 – 2004. The important contributors to that effort were acknowledged at https://www.delta-intkey.com/ffl/index.htm. Carroll’s work is particularly valuable for its character data matrix. We continue to build on her solid data foundation and add high resolution scanning electron micrographs, light photomicrographs (completely lacking in the original version), and new data from larvae of pest species that previously were not available for her study.

Development of this tool was funded in large part by USDA Plant Protection Act Projects #3.0342, #13-8131-0291, #3.0295.01, #3.0281, #3.0520, 3.0542, 3.0439, #3.1122, and #3.0577 from 2013-2023. All members of the principal investigator team of Gary Steck, Allen Norrbom, Bruce Sutton, Marc Branham, Matthew Moore, Norman Barr, Raul Ruiz, and Brian Wiegmann were instrumental in formulating and implementing the original, broad goal of improving our understanding of the taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus Anastrepha through field work and adult and larval morphological and molecular studies.

We thank Terrence Walters, Deena Walters, Amanda Redford, Julia Scher, and Kojun Kanda (USDA - APHIS - PPQ -Identification Technology Program (ITP) for helping us develop this identification tool and host it at ITP.

Many of the definitions used in the Glossary were copied or modified from White et al. (1999) with permission from CRC Press.

We thank the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services - Division of Plant Industry for recognizing the importance of this work and supporting our participation. 

Finally, thanks to our beta reviewers, Vivian Dutra, Javier Martinez-Alva, Pedro Alexander Rodriguez-Clavijo, Bradley Sinclair, Jung W. Kim, and Andrea Taddei, for their critical comments and suggestions.