Guava fruit fly

Naming

This species was first described in 1805 by Fabricius as Dictya cancellaria, but this name was long unrecognized and is now considered a nomen oblitum (Norrbom, 2002). It was described under the valid name by Schiner in 1868.

Distribution

Mexico (north to southern Sinaloa, Aguascalientes & northern Veracruz) south to Bolivia & Brazil (Amazonas, Roraima, Rondonia, Pará, Amapá, Maranhão, Piauí, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, São Paulo). Specimens are sporadically trapped in the United States (Foote et al. 1993), but those captured in California are clearly adventive and those taken in the Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas (including several specimens since 1995, D. B. Thomas, pers. comm.) questionably represent a breeding population.

Reproduction

The eggs, as in many Anastrepha species, are laid below the skin of the host fruit. They hatch within 3-6 days and the larvae feed for another 15-25 days, according to temperature. Pupariation is in the soil under the host plant and the adults emerge after 15-19 days (longer in cooler conditions). The adults occur throughout the year (Christenson and Foote, 1960). The females of A. striata take approximately 15 days to mature (Ramirez-Cruz et al., 1996). Emergence generally takes place in the morning and oviposition in the middle of the day. The mean clutch size is 1.5 (Aluja et al., 1993). See Aluja et al. (1993) and Aluja and Norrbom (1999) and included references for additional information about the ecology and behaviour of this species. A. striata is the only species of Anastrepha in which the mating behaviour is known to include trophallaxis (passing of a substance from the male to the female via the mouthparts).

Food

Anastrepha striata has been reported to attack the fruits of various native and introduced species of plants, but especially guavas and other myrtaceous fruits. The reported field hosts include 37 species belonging to 23 genera and 17 families. Of the 16 genera and 26 species that are native hosts, four genera (including Campomanesia, Eugenia, Myrcia, and Psidium) and 12 species belong to the Myrtaceae. See Norrbom (2001) for additional host data.