Soita cylindrica ( Hendel, 1914 )

Chen, Xiao-Lin, Norrbom, Allen, Freidberg, Amnon, Chesters, Douglas, Islam, Md Sajedul & Zhu, Chao-Dong, 2015, A systematic study of Ichneumonosoma de Meijere, Pelmatops Enderlein Pseudopelmatops Shiraki and Soita Walker (Diptera: Tephritidae), Zootaxa 4013 (3), pp. 301-347 : 331-332

Soita cylindrica ( Hendel, 1914)

( Figs. 114–121 )

Phantasmiella cylindrica Hendel, 1914: 87, 1915: 435 ; Shiraki, 1933: 289; Chen, 1948: 72; Zia, 1965: 212; Hardy, 1968: 120, 1977: 84; Rohlfien & Ewald, 1972: 426; Wang 1996: 109. Type-locality: Kankau, Taiwan. (ST M DEI, NMW) Soita cylindrica: Kagesawa, 1998: 242 .

Soita sp. Ito & Tamaki, 1995: 1787.

Diagnosis. Head almost entirely yellow, without dark marks except brown ocellar tubercle ( Figs. 114–115, 117– 118 ). Scutum ( Fig. 120 ) yellow-brown with 2 pairs of narrow, pale yellow stripes, including submedial pair from anterior margin to level of dorsocentral seta, and postsutural sublateral pair from level of dorsocentral seta to posterior margin. Scutellum short, half as long as wide, with 2 pairs of setae, basal pair distinctly stronger than apical pair. Anepisternum and katepisternum each with row of short black setae along anteroventral margin. Wing ( Fig. 119 ) hyaline but slightly tinged with brown, apical half of pterostigma brown, weak diffuse brown marks around the apices of veins R2+3, R4+5 and M, and a more distinct brown mark covering most of crossvein DM-Cu and apex of vein Cu l.

Distribution. Japan (Hokkaldo, Honshu), China ( Taiwan), Indonesia (Sumatra).

Specimen examined: JAPAN: Hokkaido: Minamichitose chitose, 25 June 1997, N. Kagesawa, (Host: Metaplexis japonica , stem borer, Col. 8 June 1997) 1♂ (FFPRI).

Host plants. Cynanchum caudatum and Metaplexis japonica (Asclepiadaceae) , recorded from Japan.

Remarks. This species is similar to S. ensifera , but differs by the yellow-brown scutum having 2 pairs of narrow, pale yellow stripes and the wing mostly hyaline but slightly tinged with brown, the pterostigma with apical half brown, and a distinct brown mark covering crossvein DM-Cu and the apex of vein Cu l.

Biology. The biology of this species was described by Kagesawa (1998). The adults usually appear from mid July to early August in Japan. The mining by the larvae is initiated from the shoot tip of a host plant, and the larvae then feed and bore down the stem, sometimes making small side holes, but not forming a gall. The stem infested by S. cylindrica withers at its apex, and secretes white mucus from the side holes. In autumn or mid September, the fully grown larva turns upward and blocks the tunnel by forming a plug from plant tissues. It also prepares an elliptical or sometimes slitlike exit hole. The stem tends to break at the hole, allowing the adult to easily emerge from the stem in the next year. Pupariation takes place just below the plug, where the puparium overwinters. In the following summer, the adult emerges from the exit hole or broken stem. Both sexes were found to display “body swaying” and the characteristic wing movements observed in many other species of Tephritidae ( Headrick & Goeden, 1994) . The wing movement in S. cylindrica is, however, somewhat different from the “wing enation” described by Headrick & Goeden (1994), consisting of slight spreading and quick movement of the wings ( Kagesawa, 1998).

Figures

FIGURES 114 – 121. Soita cylindrica. 114. Head, frontal view; 115. Head, dorsal and lateral view; 116. Habitus, male, lateral view; 117. Head, dorsal view; 118. Head, lateral view; 119. Wing; 120. Scutum, dorsal view; 121. Abdomen, dorsal view.