Taxonomy
Valid name:
Bactrocera (
Bactrocera)
distincta (Malloch, 1931)
Preferred common name: none
Synonyms:
Dacus distinctus (original combination in Malloch, 1931)
Strumeta distincta (subsequent combination in Perkins, 1939)
Morphology-based identification
In
Drew (1989)Drew (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.,
Bactrocera distincta is in a dichotomous key that covers the "
distincta and
fulvicauda complexes" with 18 somewhat similar species in the Australasian region. In most cases,
B. distincta can be identified reliably based on morphology alone. The band across the center of the wing may cause superficial confusion with
B. frauenfeldi, but the dark mark on the posterior of the scutellum readily distinguishes it.
Molecular identification
There are no molecular reference data available for
B. distincta.
Distribution
Bactrocera distincta has been recorded from islands in the South Pacific: Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, and Futuna. Its native range is unclear.
Further information
Bactrocera distincta is reported as a "category C" pest of Sapotaceae fruit 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 C pest is there defined as "relatively minor oligophagous or specialist fruit or cucurbit pests".
