Bactrocera (Bactrocera) syzygii White & Tsuruta

Drew, R. A. I. & Hancock, D. L., 2022, Biogeography, Speciation and Taxonomy within the genus Bactrocera Macquart with application to the Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) complex of fruit flies (Diptera Tephritidae: Dacinae), Zootaxa 5190 (3), pp. 333-360 : 352

Bactrocera (Bactrocera) syzygii White & Tsuruta

Bactrocera (Bactrocera) syzygii White & Tsuruta in Tsuruta & White, 2001: 85; Drew & Romig, 2013: 178. Holotype in HORDI.

Common name: Rose Apple Fruit Fly.

Definition: Face fulvous with a pair of large elongate oval back spots; postpronotal lobes and notopleura yellow; scutum entirely black; lateral postsutural yellow vittae parallel-sided and ending before ia. seta; medial postsutural yellow vitta absent; anepisternal stripe equal in width to notopleuron dorsally; scutellum yellow with a narrow black basal band; legs with all femora fulvous, all tibiae with dark fuscous coloration; wing with cells bc and c colourless, microtrichia in outer corner of cell c only, a narrow fuscous costal band confluent with R 2+3 and remining narrow around apex of wing, a narrow fuscous anal streak, supernumerary lobe of medium development; abdominal terga III–V red-brown with a medium width medial and two broad lateral longitudinal dark fuscous to black bands joined along anterior margin of tergum III, ceromata on tergum V dark fuscous to black, abdominal sterna black.

Distribution: Described from Sri Lanka and subsequently recorded from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam and possibly Borneo and Sulawesi ( David et al., 2017; Leblanc et al., 2019).

Hosts: Reared from one host, Syzygium jambos (family Myrtaceae ) ( Tsuruta & White, 2001; Leblanc et al., 2019).

Attractant: Zingerone (Leblanc et al., 2019).

Comments: Bactrocera syzygii is similar to B. dorsalis in possessing parallel-sided lateral postsutural yellow vittae, a narrow fuscous costal band confluent with R 2+3 and remaining narrow around wing apex, and legs with all femora entirely fulvous. It differs from B. dorsalis in having a pair of large elongate-oval black spots on the face, dark fuscous coloration on all tibiae, broad lateral longitudinal dark fuscous to black bands over abdominal terga III–V and dark fuscous to black ceromata on tergum V. There are also differences in the female eversible membrane, the spicules being semicircular without prominent projections in B. syzygii (K.J. David, pers comm.) and with numerous projections in B. dorsalis .