Anastrepha, Ramos & Norrbom & Marinoni & Sutton & Steck & Sánchez, 2021

Ramos, Elizabeth Quisberth, Norrbom, Allen L., Marinoni, Luciane, Sutton, Bruce D., Steck, Gary J. & Sánchez, Juan José Lagrava, 2021, The Bolivian fauna of the genus Anastrepha Schiner (Diptera: Tephritidae), Zootaxa 4926 (1), pp. 43-64 : 61

Anastrepha species in survey projects

From the material collected with McPhail traps in the Tropic of Cochabamba, ten species of Anastrepha were identified ( A. coronilli , A. distincta , A. fraterculus , A. obliqua , A. striata , A. pickeli , A. serpentina , Anastrepha aff. dentata , Anastrepha n. sp. 1, and Anastrepha n. sp. 2). Previously Norrbom & Korytkowski (2009), Barr et al. (2017) and Mengual et al. (2017) reported A. concava . Four new records were also added for TC by Norrbom et al. (2015) ( A. amplidentata and A. tunariensis ), Barr et al. (2017) ( A. curitis ), and Mengual et al. (2017) ( A. manihoti ). Therefore, the total number of Anastrepha species known for the TC is 15.

Eleven species were collected in multilure traps at Potrerillo del Guendá ( A. alveatoides , A. barbiellinii , A. canalis , A. distincta , A. elegans A. fraterculus , A. obliqua , A. serpentina , A. striata , A. willei and A. woodleyi ). Additionally, records of 19 species from other sites in Bolivia are reported here ( A. alveatoides , A. castanea , A. cryptostrepha , A. curitis , A. daciformis , A. dissimilis , A. distincta , A. elegans , A. fraterculus , A. grandis , A. haywardi , A. lanceola , A. macrura , A. montei , A. pickeli , A. punctata , A. serpentina , A. schultzi and A. rosilloi ). In total, new specimen records were reported for 33 species of Anastrepha .

The composition and abundance of Anastrepha species found in the TC and PG would likely be different if sampling had been completed for a full year, as many species occur or are more abundant in different seasons. The placement of the traps, in or near fruit trees in the TC and in natural forest plants in the PG, presumably also influenced the results. Ronchi-Teles & Silva (2005) attributed the presence of Anastrepha species to the composition of the vegetation and to the fruiting period of their host plants.

Anastrepha distincta was the most common (96.35% of total females) and widely distributed species in the TC study area, infesting Inga spp. In the TC area “pacay” ( Inga edulis , Fabaceae ) is a wild plant much appreciated by the local population, with several varieties distributed throughout the region ( Araujo-Murakami et al. 2016). From the capture and identification data the distributions of I. edulis and A. distincta appear to correspond, and the high number of captured specimens of A. distincta coincided with the period of production of Inga (April-June) . In Colombia and Ecuador A. distincta is the main tephritid that infests the fruits of Inga spp. ( Oropeza-Cabrera et al. 2015, Tigrero 2009).

Plants of the family Myrtaceae are an important part of the flora in the TC region. The species A. striata was the second most frequent species in the study and was found to be associated with guava ( Psidium guajava ), a natural host of this species ( Castañeda et al. 2010, Ledezma et al. 2013). Therefore, in this region more attention should be given to the monitoring, management and control of these two species ( A. distincta and A. striata ), since their economic impact may become even greater in the future due to anthropic actions or effects of climatic change ( Oropeza-Cabrera et al. 2015).

At Potrerillo del Guendá A. canalis and A. willei were the most common species with 84.23% and 9.78% of the total females, respectively. Both species were captured in more than 60% of the multilure traps located at PG. Anastrepha canalis is recorded from a single host plant, Turpinia occidentalis (Staphyleaceae) . The hosts of A. willei are unknown. These species are not considered economically important ( Norrbom 2004b, Norrbom et al. 2012).