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<em>Bactrocera neohumeralis</em>

Bactrocera neohumeralis

Lesser Queensland fruit fly
Previous scientific names: Chaetodacus humeralis, Chaetodacus tryoni var. sarcocephali, Strumeta humeralis, Dacus (Strumeta) tryoni var. neohumeralis, Dacus (Strumeta) neohumeralis, Dacus (Bactrocera) neohumerali

Diagnosis

Morphological – adult

Features include:

  • medium sized species
  • medium sized black facial spots present
  • postpronotal lobes dark brown to fuscous
  • notopleura yellow
  • scutum dark red-brown with dark fuscous to black markings, mesopleural stripe reaching midway between anterior margin of notopleuron and anterior npl. seta, lateral postsutural vittae present, medial postsutural vitta absent, scutellum yellow
  • wing with a narrow fuscous costal band and broad fuscous anal streak, cells bc and c fuscous, microtrichia covering cell c and outer ½ of cell bc
  • abdominal terga III-V generally dark fuscous to dull black and tending red-brown medially; posterior lobe of male surstylus short; female with aculeus tip needle shaped (Drew 1989; pers. comm. Drew 2010).

Morphological – larvae

See White and Elson-Harris 1992 p. 220.

Molecular

PCR-RFLP Test 1

BsrI: 200, 600

HinfI: 770

HhaI: 640, 190

Sau3AI: 420

SnaBI: Does not cut

SspI: 180, 570

Vspl: Does not cut

Approximate ITS1 fragment length – gel: 820 bp.

PCR-RFLP Test 2

SspI produces a B. tryoni species complex diagnostic restriction pattern.

SspI: 1000, 550 and 100.

This species cannot be distinguished from B. aquilonis or B. tryoni. Other restriction patterns useful for diagnosis of the complex are listed in Restriction enzyme haplotype chart, with choice based on relative distinctiveness from other species potentially trapped; descriptions of the patterns are given in Diagnostic restriction patterns.

Host Range

Bactrocera neohumeralis has been recorded on over 160 hosts from 44 families including Anacardiaceae, Annonaceae, Arecaceae, Caricaceae, Clusiaceae, Ebenaceae, Lauraceae, Malpighiaceae, Moraceae, Musaceae, Myrtaceae, Oxalidaceae, Passifloraceae, Rhamnaceae, Rosaceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, Sapotaceae, Solanaceae, and Vitaceae (for a full list of recorded hosts see Hancock et al. 2000).

Major commercial hosts:

A large number of important commercial/edible host fruits and vegetables (see Drew 1989; Hancock et al. 2000).

Commercial hosts include mango, soursop, custard apple, rollinia, date palm, persimmon, acerola, mulberry, banana, carambola, passionfruit, loquat, apple, plum, peach, pear, citrus, coffee, star apple, sapodilla, abiu, capsicum and tomato.

Similar species

B. neohumeralis differs from B. tryoni in having dark postprotonotal lobes (this is a distinct character) in addition to being generally darker.

Although these two species are very similar morphologically, they have different daily mating periods (B. tryoni at dusk and B. neohumeralis during the middle of the day) (Drew 1989).

Bactrocera neohumeralis is unusual in mating in the middle of the day. Most species, including the similar B. tryoni, mate at dusk.

Pest Status

  • Native
  • Bactrocera neohumeralis is a significant pest of commercial fruit crops in Queensland

Attractant/Lure

Cue group. More attracted to cue-lure than Melolure (raspberry ketone formate) in north Queensland (Royer 2015).