Tephritis tridentata S. Korneyev et Mohamadzade Namin 2013

Korneyev, Severyn V. & Korneyev, Valery A., 2019, Revision of the Old World species of the genus Tephritis (Diptera, Tephritidae) with a pair of isolated apical spots, Zootaxa 4584 (1), pp. 1-73 : 58-60

Tephritis tridentata S. Korneyev et Mohamadzade Namin 2013

( Figs 3f ; 33–34 )

Tephritis tridentata Korneyev & Mohamadzade Namin 2013: 174 .

Type material: Holotype ♀; Turkmenistan: “ Kuhitang [Koytendag] mts., 1100 m, Khodzha-Karaul Canyon ” [37°45.3' N, 66°28.4' E], ex Jurinea baissunensis , coll. 16.05.1992 —em. 2.06.1992 (V. Korneyev) ( SIZK).

Paratypes: Iran: Fars Province, 10 km NW Saadat shahr, 30°12.7' N, 53°02.7' E, 2500 m, 15.05.2012, 2 ♂ (S. Mohamadzade Namin) ( JAZM) ; Kazakhstan: [ Karatau mts or near], with label “177—77”, without exact locality or host plant, [1977], 2 ♂, 2 ♀ [Ivannikov] ( SIZK) ; Turkmenistan: labels as in the holotype 2 ♂, 2 ♀ ( SIZK) .

Diagnosis. Tephritis tridentata can be easily differentiated from all the known species of Tephritis by its brown wing pattern combining mottled yellow and white anterior half and 3 clearly expressed dark crossbands in posterior half, dark isolated spots at apices of veins R 4+5 and M, 2 large hyaline and 1 small yellow spots in cell r 1, and entirely yellow, mostly white setulose oviscape.

Description. Head ( Figs 33 b–c): As in T. bardanae . Length: height: width ratio = 1: 1.1: 1.4. Frons as wide as long. Eye 1.4 × as high as long. First flagellomere 1.75 × as long as wide. Gena 0.42 × as high as length of flagellomere. Occiput either with large black triangular or V-shaped mark (in specimens from Turkmenistan) or entirely yellow (in specimens from Kazakhstan). Ocellar, medial vertical, anterior orbital and frontal setae black to pale brown; posterior orbital and lateral vertical setae white to yellowish white; 7–8 white postocular setae at each side.

Thorax ( Figs 33 b–c): Brown to black with yellow postpronotal lobe and notopleuron (in specimens from Turkmenistan and Iran) or mesototum with lyrate black pattern and yellowish prescutellar area (in specimens from Kazakhstan), densely white microtrichose. Setae yellowish brown; posterior notopleural and anepimeral seta dark yellow. Setulae white; scutellum yellow with 15–17 white marginal setulae on each side. Squamae white.

Legs: Yellow, fore femur with 2 rows of white posterodorsal and 1 row of yellowish brown posteroventral setae; mid and hind leg with brown setae and setulae.

Wing ( Figs 33 g–h): with extensive brown wing pattern with hyaline spots and bars and small pale brown or yellowish spots, of somewhat M-like appearance because of 3 dark crossbands reaching from wing middle to its posterior margin. Vein R 4+5 with 4–5 setulae ventrally. Basal cells hyaline (br brown at pterostigma level), costal cell with dark spot; pterostigma entirely brown. Cell r 1 hyaline at base, brown posterior to pterostigma, with 2 square hyaline spots; Almost all specimens with tiny hyaline spot at the apex. Cell r 2+3 hyaline at base, with dark area posterior to pterostigma, usually with 1–3 tiny yellow dots, hyaline spot proximal to crossvein r–m level almost rectangular as long as cell width and 0.5–0.7 × as wide as hyaline spot anterior to it in cell r 1, additional hyaline spot distal to r–m level large 3 × as wide as proximal spot; dark band between them almost (0.7–0.9) as wide as proximal hyaline spot. Preapical brown area usually with 1–2, rarely without small round hyaline spots, and 3–5 tiny dots, apex of r 2+3 with tiny dark spot on R 4+5 vein. Halter yellow.

Cell br hyaline in basal half, dark in apical half with 2 hyaline spots of irregular shape; crossvein r–m bordered by 2 pairs of narrow yellow spots (usually confluent) at each side. Cell r 4+5 brown at base, with hyaline triangular or subrectangular spot posterior to hyaline spot in r 2+3, preapical dark band wide with round hyaline spot at middle fused with hyaline spot in m, apex hyaline. Cell m with 2 large hyaline spots, both extending into cell r 4+5 and small hyaline spot in dark interval. Cell dm hyaline at base, distal part brown with large pear-like hyaline spot fused with hyaline spot in cell cua 1. Cell cua 1 mainly brown in basal half and at apex, with 2 merged hyaline spots, and large hyaline pear-like spot at distal one-third. Posterior half of wing with 3 brown bar-like crossbands with 3 almost rectilinear hyaline interspaces between them, making dark wing pattern of M-like appearance. Anal lobe hyaline.

Abdomen ( Figs 33 d–f): tergites dark brown to black, sides of syntergite 1+2 often yellow; tergites entirely microtrichose, with with white setulae and yellow marginal setae.

Genitalia: Male. Epandrium oval, similar to other Tephritis species ( Fig. 34f ); glans ( Fig. 34e ) moderately short and wide, mostly membranous. Female. Oviscape shining yellow to orange, white setulose basoventrally and anterobasally from dorsal side, as long as tergites 3–6 combined ( Figs 33 e–f). Aculeus 5 × as long as wide, yellow, moderately pointed at apex ( Figs 34a, c ). Eversible membrane with short dentate scales, ventromedially of medium size; taeniae 0.25–0.35 × as long as membrane itself ( Fig. 34b ). 2 papillose spermathecae 5.0–5.2 × as long as wide ( Fig. 34d ).

Measurements. Female. BL= 7.3–8.5 mm; WL= 5.4–5.8 mm. AL= 2.1–2.3 mm; AL/CL =1.63. Male. BL= 5.3– 5.8 mm; WL=5.0– 5.4 mm.

Variability. One male from Fars and two specimens from Kazakhstan have a black lyrate pattern on mesonotum and widely yellow pleura; shape and number of smaller spots on wing pattern vary slightly. Apex of cell r 1 without smaller (third) yellowish or hyaline spot on one or both wings of two examined specimens. Abdomen varies from entirely dark brown (in 1 specimen) to entirely yellow (in 1 specimen); syntergite 1+2 widely yellow in most specimens from Kazakhstan and Iran.

Host plant. Larvae develop in the flower heads of Jurinea baissunensis Iljin.

Figures

FIGURES 3a–h. Tephritis, spp. wings: a—T. truncata; b—T. stictica; c—T. arsenii; d—T. arsenii (paratype); e—T. ruralis; f— T. tridentata; g—T. conyzifoliae; h—T. crepidis. Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIGURES 33a–h. Tephritis tridentata: a—habitus ♀; b—head and thorax, lateral; c—head and thorax, dorsal; d—Male abdomen, dorsal; e–f—female abdomen, dorsal; g–h—wing.

FIGURES 34a–f. Tephritis tridentata: a—tip of aculeus, ventral view; b—eversible membrane, ventral view; c—aculeus, ventral view; d—spermathecae; e—glans of phallus, lateral; f—epandrium, posterior view. Scale bar = 1 mm.