Rhagoletis psalida, Hendel, 1914

Rodriguez, Pedro Alexander, Norrbom, Allen L., Peñaranda, Guadalupe Caicedo Emilio Arévalo & Balseiro, Francisco, 2021, New species and host plant records for Neotropical Rhagoletis Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae), Zootaxa 5060 (2), pp. 231-244 : 240-242

Rhagoletis psalida complex

Figs. 15, 17, 19, 21, 22

Distribution. The psalida complex includes three nominal species reported from the Andean countries: Rhagoletis metallica (Schiner) from Peru and Venezuela; Rhagoletis psalida Hendel from Peru; and Rhagoletis rhytida Hendel from Bolivia and Ecuador ( Foote 1981). Specimens of the complex were also reported from Colombia (Cundinamarca and Meta departments) (Martínez et al. 2017), and here are also reported from Boyacá department.

Specimens examined. BOLIVIA: Cochabamba: Pongo, 5 km. W of, -17.715 -66.600, 3820 m, on shruby Solanum sp. , 23 Mar 2001, A. Freidberg, 3♂ 3♀ (USNM USNMENT00216758–63). La Paz: El Alto, 14 km. S of, -16.66833 -68.18333, 3900 m, on potato, 20 Mar 2001, A. Freidberg, 2♂ 2♀ (ANCB USNMENT00215216–19), 4♂ 3♀ (USNM USNMENT00216771–77). COLOMBIA: Boyacá: Duitama, vereda Higerón, Cedeagro, 5.5711°N 73.0499°W, 2670 m., fruits of Solanum pseudocapsicum L. collected 4 Aug 2016, emerged 9–14 Sep 2016, 5♂ 5♀ (ICAMF00000523); Sotaquirá, vereda Bosigas, sector El Manzano, 5.7515°N 73.1842°W, 2532 m., McPhail trap 12, 11 Dec 2019, 1♀ (ICAMF00000559); same, 26 Apr 2019, 1♀ (ICAMF00000524); Tibasosa, 5.744732°N 73.001771°W, 2552 m., fruits of Solanum pseudocapsicum collected 1 Jun 2018, emerged 17 Jul Sep 2018, 1♂ 2♀ (ICAMF00000525); Vereda Peña Negra, Predio El Bosque, 5.8041°N 72.9961°W, 2602m., fruits of Solanum pseudocapsicum collected Sep 24 2020, emerged 1 Oct 2020, 1♀ (ICAMF00000558). Cundinamarca: Bogotá, Jardín Botánico de Bogotá, 4.6693°N 74.1006°W, 2563 m., fruits of Solanum interandinum Bitter collected 17 Dec 2015, emerged 16–20 Jan 2016, 4♂ 6♀ 5 larvae (ICAMF00000534); same, collected 6 Jun 2017, emerged 5–10 Jul 2017, 2♂ 2♀ 2 larvae (ICAMF00000533); same, fruits of Solanum tuberosum L. subsp. andigenum (Juz. & Burkasov) Hawkes collected 16 Jun 2017, emerged 17–23 Jul 2017, 11♂ 4♀ (ICAMF00000531); Jardín Botánico, 4.66833°N 74.10056°W, 2555 m., 5 Aug 2014, G. Caicedo, 3♂ 2♀ (USNM USNMENT00677275–79); Jardín Botánico, 4.6675°N 74.10111°W, 2556 m, reared ex fruit of hierbamora, Solanum interandinum , 3 Jun 2015, G. Caicedo, 1♂ 1♀ (USNM); same, reared ex fruit of papa, Solanum tuberosum L. subsp. andigenum [labeled as S. phureja ], 11 Jan 2015, P.A. Rodriguez & G. Caicedo, 1♂ 1♀ (USNM); Subachoque, vía rural hacia Tenjo, 4.9259°N 74.1159°W, 2520 m., fruits of Solanum tuberosum L. subsp. andigenum collected 7 Jan 2018, emerged 10–14 Feb 2018, 1♀ (ICAMF00000532). PERU: Junín: Quilcas, Pachapaqui, 3600 m, reared from fruit of potato, 7 Mar 2003, H. Rodriguez, 1♂ 1♀ (USNM USNMENT00213645–46). Lima: Rimac Canyon, Rt. 20, btw. San Mateo & Tunel Cacrag, -11.74083 -76.28556, 3323 m, emerged 27 May 2010 reared ex fruit of Solanum americanum Mill. (10-PE-08) collected 16 Apr 2010, N. Nolazco & A.L. Norrbom, 1♀ (USNMENT00745368) 1 larva (USNMENT00745369).

Biology. Specimens were reared from fruits of three Solanaceae species in Colombia. The first, Solanum interandinum (Figs. 15, 30–33), is locally known by the common names “tomatillo del diablo”, “hierbamora” and “ropamora”. Field observations made in the Jardín Botánico de Bogotá for several days showed that adults frequent this plant in the early morning and late afternoon, where they are seen copulating on the leaves or stems (Fig. 15). The larvae feed on tissue of the locular cavity that surrounds the seeds of the fruit ( Figs. 32, 33 ). A second host, Solanum pseudocapsicum ( Figs. 34, 35 ), is a small introduced ornamental shrub locally know by the common names: “mirto” and “cerezo de Jerusalén” that is very common in gardens and rural areas of the “Altiplano cundiboyacenese”, including the Bogotá savanna. Its fruits are highly toxic, containing moderate levels of the glycol-alkaloids solanine, solanocapsin and o-methylsolanocapsine ( Mejía et al. 2013). The third host, Solanum tuberosum L. subsp. andigenum , is locally known as “mamones de papa” its fruits are small and similar in color and consistency to unripe tomatoes ( Fig. 36 ) larvae are frequent in unharvested plants. One larva per fruit was found in all three Solanum species. In Peru, Solanum americanum is a host plant for the psalida complex, and in Bolivia and Peru specimens were collected on or reared from “potato”, although the scientific name of the plant was not indicated.

Comments. The psalida complex includes three nominal species whose taxonomy is poorly resolved and whose biology is poorly understood. These include R. metallica , R. psalida and R. rhytida . Foote (1981) revised the Neotropical Rhagoletis and Martínez et al. (2017) reported specimens of the complex from Colombia, but the status of these populations is unresolved. The only previously reported host plant data for the psalida group was the record by Munro (1968) of larvae of R. psalida from potato fruits in the vicinity of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia where the fly species was considered to be of little or no economic importance.

Figures

FIGURES 30–36. Host plants of Rhagoletis sp., psalida complex: 30–33, Solanum interandinum Bitter from Bogotá; 30, Section of the plant; 31, Detail of puncture in the fruit; 32–33, detail of larvae feeding on tissue surrounding seeds of the fruit; 34–35, Fruits of Solanum pseudocapsicum L. from Tibasosa; 36, Fruits of Solanum tuberosum L. subsp. andigenum (Juz. & Burkasov) Hawkes from Subachoque.