Rhagoletis meigenii

Rhagoletis meigenii, common name Barberry Fly or Yellow Berberis Fruit Fly, is a species of tephritid or fruit flies in the genus Rhagoletis of the family Tephritidae.[2][3]

Rhagoletis meigenii
Female of Rhagoletis meigenii. Dorsal view
Male. Side view
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Diptera
Section:
Schizophora
Subsection:
Acalyptratae
Superfamily:
Tephritoidea
Family:
Tephritidae
Genus:
Rhagoletis
Species:
R. meigenii
Binomial name
Rhagoletis meigenii
(Loew, 1844)
Synonyms[1]
  • Trypeta meigenii Loew, 1844
  • Tephritis vicina Macquart, 1835
  • Zonosema meigeni Becker, 1905

Distribution

This species is present in most of Europe (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine, and United Kingdom), in the Near East and in Central Asia. It has been introduced in the Nearctic realm, in Canada (Nova Scotia) and in USA (Maine, New Hampshire). [4][5]

Description

Rhagoletis meigenii can reach a body length of about 8–10 millimetres (0.31–0.39 in). These flies are characterized by prominent banded wings. These dark bands include an apical crossband, a preapical crossband and a discal crossband. Also the accessory costal crossband is present. [6] The head has two pairs of orbital setae. Scutellum is usually entirely cream to yellow. The background color of the body is orange-yellow.[7]

Biology

Adults can be seen from July to August. [8] They feed on pollen and nectar, where as larvae feed on fruit seeds of their preferred host plant (Berberis vulgaris). [9][7]

Bibliography

References
  1. Catalogue of life
  2. IIS
  3. Nomen.at - animals and plants
  4. Fauna Europaea
  5. Arturs Stalažs, Maksims Balalaikins Country Checklist of Rhagoletis Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae) for Europe, with Focus on R. Batava and Its Recent Range Expansion
  6. Wiley Onliner Library
  7. Nature Spot
  8. Inaturalist
  9. Bug Guide


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