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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » "Acalyptratae" » Ephydroidea » Vinegar Flies (Drosophilidae) » Drosophilinae » Zaprionus » African Fig Fly (Zaprionus indianus)

Species Zaprionus indianus - African Fig Fly

Classification · Explanation of Names · Identification · Range · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Internet References

Unknown Fruit Fly - genus/species? Not the best photo, but the fly has distinctive markings. - Zaprionus indianus

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Diptera (Flies)

No Taxon ("Acalyptratae")

Superfamily Ephydroidea

Family Drosophilidae (Vinegar Flies)

Subfamily Drosophilinae

Genus Zaprionus

Species indianus (African Fig Fly)

Explanation of Names

Zaprionus indianus Gupta 1970

Identification

Zaprionus indianus has a row of spines under the distal half of the fore femur (as do many other African species). A fly without these spines should be compared to Z. tuberculatus.

Range

e. US, Ont., s. CA (van der Linde 2006)(Renkema 2013)(BG data)

Native to Africa, introduced to Florida and S. America (Brazil, Venezuela) (van der Linde 2006)

Life Cycle

This fly is a generalist that breeds on fallen fruit and fruit on the tree. In Africa, it is known to infest fruits of 74 species in 31 plant families (Lachaise & Tsacas 1983)

Remarks

First collected in Florida in 2005. (van der Linde et al. 2006)

This species lacks a sharp ovipositor and tends to attack damaged and overripe fruit. (David Biddinger, Penn State)

Print References

Lachaise, D., AND L. Tsacas. 1983. Breeding sites in tropical African drosophilids, pp. 221-332 In M. Ashburner, H. L. Carson, and J. N. Thompson [eds.], The Genetics and Biology of Drosophila. Academic Press, London.

Renkema J.M., Miller M., Fraser H., Légaré J.P. & Hallett R.H. (2013). First records of Zaprionus indianus Gupta (Diptera: Drosophilidae) from commercial fruit fields in Ontario and Quebec, Canada, Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario, 144 125-130.

van der Linde K., Steck G.J., Hibbard K., J.S. Birdsley, L.M. Alonso, D. Houle (2006) First records of Zaprionus indianus (Diptera: Drosophilidae), a pest species on commercial fruits from Panama and the United States of America. Florida Entomologist 89: 402-404 (Full text)

Internet References

Kim van der Linde (2006) Zaprionus indianus: taxonomy and species identification

Penn State Extension fact sheet - David Biddinger

Entomological Society of Canada blog - Justin Renkema (2014)

Contributed by Sean McCann on 20 August, 2006 - 9:20am
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, Vox Sciurorum, v belov
Last updated 1 January, 2024 - 3:54pm

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