Bactrocera (Bactrocera) papayae Drew & Hancock

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 : 351

Bactrocera (Bactrocera) papayae Drew & Hancock

Bactrocera (Bactrocera) papayae Drew & Hancock, 1994: 48 ; Norrbom et al., 1998: 93; Drew & Romig, 2013: 142, 2016: 7.

Holotype in BMNH.

Bactrocera (Bactrocera) philippinensis Drew & Hancock, 1994: 52 ; Norrbom et al., 1998: 94. Holotype in BPBM. Syn. Drew & Romig, 2013: 142.

Common Name: Asian Papaya Fruit Fly.

Definition: Face fulvous with a pair of large oval black spots; postpronotal lobes and notopleura yellow; scutum black with dark brown laterally and around notopleural suture; broad parallel-sided lateral postsutural yellow vittae ending at or behind ia. seta; medial postsutural yellow vitta absent; anepisternal stripe reaching midway between anterior margin of notopleuron and anterior npl. seta dorsally; scutellum yellow with a narrow black basal band; legs with femora entirely fulvous, fore and hind tibiae dark fuscous, mid tibiae fuscous basally (darker stripe on ventral surface of fore tibiae more distinct on fresh specimens); 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 may widen slightly around apex of wing, a narrow fuscous anal streak, supernumerary lobe of medium development; abdominal terga III-V orangebrown with a narrow transverse black band across anterior margin of tergum III which expands laterally into narrow margins (in some specimens this band is broken in the midline), a narrow to medium width medial longitudinal black band over all three terga, anterolateral corners of terga IV and V dark fuscous to black, ceromata on tergum V orange-brown, abdominal terga dark fuscous to black.

Distribution: Peninsular Malaysia, East Malaysia, Central to Southern Thailand (at least as far north as Bangkok), Philippines, Palau, Borneo, Indonesia, Singapore, Moluccas, Indonesian Papua, Papua New Guinea, New Britain, Christmas Island (Australian Territory).

Hosts: A wide range of commercial/edible and wild host fruits (see Allwood et al., 1999).

Attractant: Methyl eugenol.

Comments: Detailed discussion on the specific status of B. papaya e has been presented in Drew & Romig (2013, 2016, 2022). The major host preferences of this species make it a serious biosecurity risk, particularly for specific export industries such as bananas. The closest species morphologically is B. dorsalis and the two can be separated on the basis of aedeagus and ovipositor measurements, particularly those of host-reared specimens. In B. papayae the aedeagus length range is 2.54–3.4 mm and in B. dorsalis 2.46–2.7 mm, and in B. papayae the ratio of the length of the oviscape to length of tergum V is 1: 1 to 1.5: 1, whereas in B. dorsalis it is 0.7: 1 to 0.8: 1. The glans is elongate and tubular in B. papayae and sobovate in B. dorsalis .