Taxonomy
Following the delimitation of the B. frauenfeldi species complex of Doorenweerd et al. (2023a)Doorenweerd et al. (2023a):
Doorenweerd C, San Jose M, Geib S, Dupuis J, Leblanc L, Barr N, Fiegalan E, Morris KY, Rubinoff D, 2023. A phylogenomic approach to species delimitation in the mango fruit fly (Bactrocera frauenfeldi) complex: A new synonym of an important pest species with variable morphotypes (Diptera: Tephritidae). Systematic Entomology 48: 10–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12559 , there are six species included. Note that B. albistrigata is a junior synonym of B. frauenfeldi.
Valid name: Bactrocera (Bactrocera) frauenfeldi (Schiner, 1868)
Preferred common name: mango fruit fly
Valid name: Bactrocera (Bactrocera) caledoniensis Drew, 1989Drew, 1989:
Drew RAI, 1989. The tropical fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae) of the Australasian and Oceanian regions. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 1: 1–521.
Valid name: Bactrocera (Bactrocera) trilineola Drew, 1989Drew, 1989:
Drew RAI, 1989. The tropical fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae) of the Australasian and Oceanian regions. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 1: 1–521.
Valid name: Bactrocera (Bactrocera) parafrauenfeldi Drew, 1989Drew, 1989:
Drew RAI, 1989. The tropical fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae) of the Australasian and Oceanian regions. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 1: 1–521.
Valid name: Bactrocera (Bactrocera) kirki (Froggatt, 1911)
Valid name: Bactrocera (Bactrocera) psidii (Froggatt, 1909)
Morphology-based identification
Bactrocera frauenfeldi and the three species nearest to it,
B. caledoniensis,
B. trilineola, and
B. parafrauenfeldi, all have a band across the center of the wing.
Bactrocera kirki has an almost clear wing, lacks an anal streak, and the costal band does not go past vein R1.
Bactrocera psidii has a costal band that does not go past the ending of vein R2+3 and slight infuscation around crossveins
dm-cu and
r-m. The absence or presence and shape of markings on the face further distinguish species within this complex.
Bactrocera frauenfeldi shows regional variation in its morphology where specimens can have extensive or reduced yellow markings.
Molecular identification
The study of
Doorenweerd et al. (2023a)Doorenweerd et al. (2023a):
Doorenweerd C, San Jose M, Geib S, Dupuis J, Leblanc L, Barr N, Fiegalan E, Morris KY, Rubinoff D, 2023. A phylogenomic approach to species delimitation in the mango fruit fly (Bactrocera frauenfeldi) complex: A new synonym of an important pest species with variable morphotypes (Diptera: Tephritidae). Systematic Entomology 48: 10–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12559 showed that species within this complex cannot be identified using COI due to introgression. Genome-wide markers such as the HiMAP tephritid ortholog panel (
Dupuis et al. 2018Dupuis et al. 2018:
Dupuis JR, Bremer FT, Kauwe A, Jose MS, Leblanc L, Rubinoff D, Geib SM, 2018. HiMAP: Robust phylogenomics from highly multiplexed amplicon sequencing. Molecular Ecology Resources 18: 1000–1019. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12783) clearly distinguish all species (
Doorenweerd et al. 2023aDoorenweerd et al. 2023a:
Doorenweerd C, San Jose M, Geib S, Dupuis J, Leblanc L, Barr N, Fiegalan E, Morris KY, Rubinoff D, 2023. A phylogenomic approach to species delimitation in the mango fruit fly (Bactrocera frauenfeldi) complex: A new synonym of an important pest species with variable morphotypes (Diptera: Tephritidae). Systematic Entomology 48: 10–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12559 ).
Bactrocera parafrauenfeldi has not been sampled in molecular studies.
Distribution
This species complex is found in the South Pacific, across Australiasia and into Southeast Asia. All species are allopatric except
B. psidii and
B. caledoniensis, which are sympatric in New Caledonia.
Bactrocera trilineola has become parapatric with this species pair since it was introduced from Vanuatu into New Caledonia in 2008. See a map of all species' distributions in
Doorenweerd et al. (2023a)Doorenweerd et al. (2023a):
Doorenweerd C, San Jose M, Geib S, Dupuis J, Leblanc L, Barr N, Fiegalan E, Morris KY, Rubinoff D, 2023. A phylogenomic approach to species delimitation in the mango fruit fly (Bactrocera frauenfeldi) complex: A new synonym of an important pest species with variable morphotypes (Diptera: Tephritidae). Systematic Entomology 48: 10–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12559 .
Further information
Bactrocera frauenfeldi,
B. trilineola,
B. kirki and
B. psidii are listed as "category B" pests in
Vargas et al. (2015)Vargas et al. (2015):
Vargas RI, Pinero JC, Leblanc L, 2015. An overview of pest species of Bactrocera fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and the integration of biopesticides with other biological approaches for their management with a focus on the pacific region. Insects 6: 297–318. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects6020297. A category B pest is there defined as "polyphagous fruit pests or destructive specialists more restricted in distribution, but at elevated risk of spreading to new locations". In
Vargas et al. (2015)Vargas et al. (2015):
Vargas RI, Pinero JC, Leblanc L, 2015. An overview of pest species of Bactrocera fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and the integration of biopesticides with other biological approaches for their management with a focus on the pacific region. Insects 6: 297–318. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects6020297,
B. albistrigata was not yet known to be a synonym of
B. frauenfeldi and was listed as a category C pest. With the renewed understanding of the expansive distribution of
B. frauenfeldi, this should probably now be regarded as a category A pest that is expanding westward and northward. Population densities of
B. frauenfeldi are usually similar to those of
B. dorsalis in regions where both are found, further indicating a similar pest status is warranted.
Bactrocera caledoniensis and
B. parafrauenfeldi are the only two species in the complex that are not regarded to be pests.
