Bactrocera (Bactrocera) pyrifoliae Drew & Hancock, 1994

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 : 351-352

Bactrocera (Bactrocera) pyrifoliae Drew & Hancock

Bactrocera (Bactrocera) pyrifoliae Drew & Hancock, 1994: 55 ; Norrbom et al., 1998: 94; Drew & Romig, 2013: 164. Holotype in BMNH.

Common Name: Oriental Pear Fly.

Definition: Face fulvous with a pair of medium-sized circular black spots; postpronotal lobes and notopleura yellow; scutum black with dark brown lateral margins; narrow lateral postsutural yellow vittae tapering posteriorly to end 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 fulvous with a small subapical black spot on outer surfaces of fore femora and dark fuscous around apices of mid and hind femora, fore and mid tibiae dark fuscous and hind tibiae black; wings 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 with a slight swelling around apex of R 4+5, a narrow fuscous anal streak, supernumerary lobe of medium development; abdominal terga III-V orange-brown and with each tergum with a dark fuscous to black ’T’ pattern and dark fuscous to black lateral margins, ceromata on tergum V dark fuscous, abdominal sterna dark fuscous to black.

Distribution: Northern Thailand and northern Vietnam.

Hosts: Reared from five host families with a preference for peach and pear in the family Rosaceae .

Attractant: A possible weak response to cue lure ( Drew & Romig, 2013).

Comments: Bactrocera pyrifoliae is morphologically unique within the group in possessing terga III, IV and V each with a separate dark fuscous to black ‘T’ pattern. In having lateral postsutural yellow vittae narrowing posteriorly, all femora with apical dark markings and an extensively dark abdomen with fuscous ceromata, it most resembles the Elaeocarpaceae-feeding B. thailandica (which also has a dark basal band on abdominal terga III and IV) and the Melastomataceae-feeding species B. melastomatos and B. osbeckiae and is possibly related to them.