Rhagoletis mongolica Kandybina, 1972

Korneyev, S. V., Smith, J. J., Hulbert, D. L., Frey, J. E. & Korneyev, V. A., 2022, A New Species Of Rhagoletis (Diptera, Tephritidae) From Switzerland, With Discussion Of Its Relationships Within The Genus, Zoodiversity 56 (1), pp. 1-20 : 15

Rhagoletis mongolica Kandybina, 1972

Kandybina, 1972: 913 (description), 1977 (larva; distribution; host plants; new records); Korneyev & Merz, 1997: 63 (key); Norrbom et al., 1999: 201 (catalogue); Korneyev & Ovchinnikova, 2004: 482 (key).

Comments. This species was originally described based on a single female and a third instar larva reared from Juniperus sabina L. in Mongolia ( Kandybina, 1972). Later, the larva was redescribed based on material from the same host plant in Kyrgyzstan ( Kandybina, 1977). The adult specimens from Kyrgyzstan were briefly described as having completely black femora and partly black tibiae; neither their male nor female genitalia have been described. We therefore consider R. mongolica to have entirely yellow femora as in the holotype, and the Kyrgyz specimens to be likely non-conspecific. The geographically “intermediate form” from Kyrgyzstan must be analyzed to clarify its taxonomic position and molecular differences from both R. mongolica and R. merzi .