Bactrocera (Bactrocera) aethriobasis (Hardy)

Drew, R. A. I., Romig, M. C. & Dorji, C., 2007, Records Of Dacine Fruit Flies And New Species Of Dacus (Diptera: Tephritidae) In Bhutan, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 55 (1), pp. 1-21 : 2

Bactrocera (Bactrocera) aethriobasis (Hardy)

Dacus aethriobasis Hardy, 1973: 30 . Holotype male in KUB. Bactrocera (Bactrocera) aethriobasis – Norrbom et al., 1998: 87.

Material examined. – BHUTAN: 2 males (13 May.2000) , 1 male (20 May.2000), 3 males (27 May.2000), 3 males (2 Jun.2000), Phuentsholing, coll. S. Thapa; 1 male, Gelephu, Purana Bastey, 26 Feb.2005, coll. Maha Prasad & Karma Namgyel. All specimens attracted to methyl eugenol. Specimens in NPPC and QDPI.

Diagnosis. – A large species; face fulvous with a pair of medium sized oval black spots; scutum entirely red-brown, postpronotal lobes and notopleura yellow, mesopleural stripe reaching anterior npl. seta dorsally, broad parallel sided lateral postsutural vittae ending behind ia. seta, medial postsutural vitta absent; setae: sc. 2; prsc. 2; ia. 1; p.sa. 1; a.sa. 1; mpl. 1; npl. 2; scp. 4; scutellum yellow with narrow red-brown basal band; legs with all segments entirely fulvous; wings with cells bc and c colourless and entirely devoid of microtrichia, narrow pale fuscous costal band confluent with R 2+3 and extremely narrow and very pale fuscous beyond apex of R 2+3 around costal margin of wing to end just beyond extremity of R 4+5, cubital streak reduced to pale fuscous within cell cup, supernumerary lobe weak; abdominal terga III-V either entirely dark fuscous to black or dark fuscous to black with dark red-brown either side of a medial longitudinal black band from centre of tergum IV to cover anterior 3/4 of tergum V, a pair of oval black shining spots on tergum V.

Attractant. – Methyl eugenol.

Distribution. – Thailand. New record for lower altitudes of Bhutan.

Hosts. – No known record.

Remarks. – A non pest species previously recorded only from Thailand. It is readily distinguished by the following characters – scutum red-brown, broad parallel sided lateral postsutural vittae, wings with a very narrow costal band and cubital streak absent, abdominal terga III-V black.