Ceratitis (Pterandrus) quilicii De Meyer, Mwatawala & Virgilio, 2016

Meyer, Marc De, Mwatawala, Maulid, Copeland, Robert S. & Virgilio, Massimiliano, 2016, Description of new Ceratitis species (Diptera: Tephritidae) from Africa, or how morphological and DNA data are complementary in discovering unknown species and matching sexes, European Journal of Taxonomy 233, pp. 1-23 : 3-7

Ceratitis (Pterandrus) quilicii De Meyer, Mwatawala & Virgilio sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:FE85EC42-12F6-4C76-80C2-CA8A7C4E7D5D

Fig. 1

Etymology

Named in honour of the late Dr. Serge Quilici (Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, CIRAD, La Réunion) who passed away in 2015. The species name should be treated as a noun in the genitive case.

Material examined

Holotype

TANZANIA: Ƌ, Nyandira , EGOlure trap, 4 May 2013, M. Mwatawala ( RMCA coll Nr T19315).

Paratypes (deposited in BMNH, NMK, RMCA, SANC, SUA, and USNM)

TANZANIA: same locality as holotype: 2 ƋƋ, 4 May 2013 (coll Nr T 19315); 1 Ƌ, 1 Jun. 2013, coll Nr T 19471; 2 ƋƋ, 1 Jun. 2013 (coll Nr T 19474); 16 ƋƋ (1 Ƌ barcoded RMCA, AB 42864782, see Table 1 ), combined lures, 2006, M. Mwatawala; 33 ƋƋ, Mgeta Visada, EGOlure trap, 4 May– 29 Jun. 2013, M. Mwatawala.

KENYA: 2 ƋƋ, Kirimiri Forest, reared ex fruits Englerophytum natalense , 23 Jan. 2002, coll Nr 1683; 1 Ƌ, Kirimiri Forest, reared ex fruits Englerophytum natalense , 21 Jan. 2003, coll Nr 2380, all R.S. Copeland.

Non-type material

BOTSWANA: Gaborone.

KENYA: Embu-Runyenjes; Kirimiri Forest; Taita Hills, near Ngangao Forest.

MALAWI: Bvumbwe Research Station; Kumbali; Zomba.

RÉUNION ISLAND: St. Pierre.

SOUTH AFRICA: Addo; Arnoldton; Baltimore; Bavaria; Bloemfontein; Bonza Bay; Britstown; Burgershall; Cato Manor; Cedara; Citrusdal; Clanwilliam; Doreen Clark Nature Reserve; Duivelskloof; Dukuduku; Durban; East London; Enon Farm, near Richmond; Eshowe; Ferncilff Nature Reserve; Fort Beaufort; Gariepdam; Grahamstown; Haenertsburg; Wyllie’s Poort, Ingwe Motel; Jan Kempdorp; King William’s Town; Kirkwood; Knysna; Komatipoort; Kruger National Park; Kwambonambi; Louis Trichardt; Lynnwood; Malipsdrift; Marble Hall; Nelspruit; Nkandla; Nkwalini; Olifantshoek; Onrus River; Paarl; Pienaarspoort; Pietermaritzburg; Piketberg; Port Elizabeth; Port Shepstone; Porterville; Pretoria; Riebeek Kasteel; Roodeplaat; Rustenburg; Somerset West; Stellenbosch; Tshipise; Tzaneen; Uitenhage; Volksrust; Vryburg; Warner Beach; Wynberg.

SWAZILAND: Ngonini Estates.

TANZANIA: Amani; Arusha Municipality; Kibundi; Kidiwa; Langali; Lushoto; Mikese; Mlali; Morogoro Municipality; Moshi Municipality; Mgeta Msikitini; Nyandira; Pinde; Tengeru; Visada.

ZIMBABWE: Harare; Vumba.

Description

Male

BODY LENGTH. 4.81 (3.68–5.68) mm; wing length: 5.55 (4.48–6.08) mm.

HEAD ( Fig. 1a ). Antenna yellow. First flagellomere in lateral view 2–3 times as long as wide, obtuse apically. Arista short to medium pubescent, ventral proximal rays at most twice width of arista at base. Two frontal setae, thinner than, and subequal in length to, anterior orbital seta; two orbital setae, anterior orbital longer than posterior one; ocellar seta at least 4 times as long as ocellar triangle; postocellar seta black, shorter than lateral vertical seta. Frons convex, not protruding in lateral view, yellow to yellowish-white. Genal seta and setulae black. Face and occiput yellowish-white, the latter somewhat darker dorsally.

THORAX ( Fig. 1 b–c). Postpronotal lobe white to yellowish-white, without black middle spot around base of postpronotal seta. Scutum ground color greyish to greyish-brown, sometimes with orange tinge; with streaks and darker markings but without distinct spots except pair of separate prescutellar white markings, usually with pale yellowish-white area in between. Setae black. Anepisternum on ventral half darker yellowish-brown to brown; with pale pilosity, one anepisternal seta. Anatergite and katatergite white. Scutellum yellowish-white, usually with two narrow separate dark brown spots basally, sometimes less distinct; apically with three separate black spots, extending anteriorly to level of or just anterior to basal scutellar seta. Subscutellum black.

LEGS ( Fig. 1d, f ). Slender; yellow or yellowish-white except where otherwise noted; setation mixed pale and black. Forefemur with dispersed rows of long black setulae posterodorsally, posteroventrally shorter and pale; ventral spine-like setae black. Midfemur with few dispersed pale setulae ventrally; midtibia thin at base, moderately and gradually broadened; anteriorly black with conspicuous silvery shine when viewed from certain angle on distal 0.66 to 0.75 (black color sometimes inconspicuous in teneral specimens but silvery shine is always present), black color usually not reaching ventral and dorsal margins, especially on basal part; with black feathering dorsally along distal 0.75 and ventrally along distal 0.66, occasionally to distal 0.75. Hindfemur at distal 0.25 with longer setulae dorsally and ventrally.

WING ( Fig. 1e ). Markings yellowish-brown. Anterior apical band, subapical band and discal band present, posterior apical band absent; anterior apical band not touching discal band; subapical band isolated. Cross-vein R-M situated at or just before midlength of cell dm. Brown streaks and spots present in basal cells.

ABDOMEN. Ground colour mainly yellow. Tergites 2 and 4 on posterior half with greyish microtrichosity; anterior margin sometimes narrowly brownish colored, especially laterally. Tergite 3 with posterior half patchily brownish, anterior half yellowish-brown, both parts not clearly demarcated; sometimes more extensively brown. Tergite 5 with basal half brownish, sometimes divided medially by paler spot.

Female

Unknown (see remarks).

Distribution

Based upon the above listing, C. quilicii sp. nov. is widely distributed throughout southern and eastern Africa with confirmed records from Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. It is also known from Réunion Island.

Host records

The recent recognition that C. rosa s.lat. actually comprises two distinct species (see Remarks below) requires a re-examination of all material previously reported under ‘ C. rosa ’, including records on host use. Reared material that could be studied and identified confirmed the following plants as hosts for C. quilicii sp. nov.: Myrtaceae : Psidium cattleianum Sabine , P. guajava L., Syzygium jambos (L.) Alston; Rosaceae : Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindley , Malus domestica Borkh. , Prunus persica (L.) Batsch, Pyrus communis L., Rubus sp.; Rubiaceae : Coffea arabica L.; Sapotaceae : Chrysophyllum magalismontanum Sond. , Englerophytum natalense (Sond.) T.D. Penn.

Remarks

Ceratitis quilicii sp. nov. belongs to the subgenus Pterandrus and in particular to the Pterandrus section A as defined by Barr & Wiegmann (2009). Within this section, it belongs to the Ceratitis FAR complex as defined by Barr & McPheron (2006) and Virgilio et al. (2008). A recent study by Virgilio et al. (2013) recognized five microsatellite genotypic clusters within the complex, two of which correspond with Ceratitis rosa . Further studies including morphometrics, developmental physiology, cuticular hydrocarbons, pheromones and mating incompatibility ( De Meyer et al. 2015b and references therein) provided evidence that these two genotypic clusters represent two distinct entities that should be considered separate species. Mwatawala et al. (2015) furthermore presented evidence that the two entities appear to have different environmental requirements, a case that was supported by some of the differences observed by Tanga et al. (2015). These studies also confirmed the earlier proposed hypothesis by Grout & Stoltz (2007) that C. rosa could actually include two separate entities with different ecological requirements. However, a study along an altitudinal transect in central Tanzania ( Mwatawala et al. 2015), as well as re-examinations of material housed in natural history collections, have shown that the two species can co-occur in particular areas.

This species is largely identical to C. rosa . Only the males can be distinguished by minor differences of the midtibia, C. rosa having a broader midtibia with black coloration reaching the ventral and dorsal margins of the tibia throughout ( Fig. 1g ), while C. quilicii sp. nov. has a more slender tibia, gradually tapering towards the base, and with the black coloration not reaching the ventral and dorsal margins throughout the full length ( Fig. 1f ). Females cannot be differentiated currently and, therefore, no female specimens are included in the type series. The description of the female of C. rosa as given in De Meyer & Freidberg (2006) applies to C. quilicii sp. nov. as well.

Ceratitis rosa has been referred to as “R1”, “the hot type ” or “lowland type ” in previous literature regarding the two species, while C. quilicii sp. nov. has been referred to as “R2”, “the cold type ” or “highland type ” (see De Meyer et al. 2015b and Hendrichs et al. 2015, and references therein). The DNA barcodes produced for five specimens of C. quilicii sp. nov. from Tanzania, South Africa and La Réunion (see Table 1 for voucher details and accessions) have a mean p-distance = 0.6% ( Tamura et al. 2013). As already observed ( Virgilio et al. 2008), DNA barcoding does not allow the unambiguous identification of species within the Ceratitis FAR complex. C. quilicii sp. nov. is no exception, as it clusters together with vouchers of C. rosa from Kenya and Mozambique (the morphological identification of these latter was verified and confirmed as C. rosa ) (Supplementary file).

Figures

Fig. 1. — a–f. Ceratitis quilicii De Meyer, Mwatawala & Virgilio sp. nov. Ƌ. a. Head and thorax, anterodorsal view. b. Head and thorax, lateral view. c. Thorax, dorsal view. d. Midleg, anterior view. e. Wing. f. Midtibia, anterior view. — g. C. rosa Karsch, 1887 s.str. midtibia, anterior view. Scale bars = 1 mm.