Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2023 | 15(6): 23344–23349
ISSN 0974-7907
(Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8071.15.6.23344-23349
#8071 | Received 22
June 2022 | Final received 31 May 2023 | Finally accepted 03 June 2023
Rayed Thistle Fly Tephritis cometa
Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae)
a new record to India
Rayees Ahmad 1, Tariq Ahmad
2 & Barkat Hussain 3
1,2 Entomology Research Laboratory,
Department of Zoology, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir
190006, India.
3 Division of Entomology, Faculty
of Horticulture, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science &
Technology- Kashmir, Jammu & Kashmir 190025, India.
1 bhatrayees10@gmail.com, 2 drtariqento@kashmiruniversity.ac.in,
3 bhatbari@rediffmail.com (corresponding author)
Editor: R.M. Sharma, Zoological Survey of India,
Pune, India. Date
of publication: 26 June 2023 (online & print)
Citation: Ahmad, R., T. Ahmad & B. Hussain (2023). Rayed Thistle Fly Tephritis
cometa Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae) a new record to India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 15(6): 23344–23349. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8071.15.6.23344-23349
Copyright: © Ahmad et al. 2023. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows
unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium
by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: This research received no external funding from any funding agency.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Author details: Rayees Ahmad is a
research scholar at Department of Zoology, University of Kashmir, working on fruit flies and their sustainable management with Pheromone Application Technology (PAT) and Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). Tariq Ahmad is a
professor at Department of Zoology, University of Kashmir, working on the alien flora of Kashmir and their management using native insect herbivores. Barkat Hussain is a professor cum chief scientist at Division of Entomology, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences
and Technology of Kashmir, working on Pheromone Application Technology.
Author contributions: Conceptualization, RA, BH, & TA; methodology, BH, RA, & TA; formal analysis, RA; field survey, RA; data curation, RA;
writing-original draft preparation, RA; All authors have visualized and reviewed the manuscript.
Acknowledgements: The authors are very much
thankful to Head, Department of Zoology, University of Kashmir- Srinagar, for
providing lab facilities as well as necessary equipment’s during our study.
Authors also thanks Professor Richard (Dick) A.I. Drew, Director, International
Centre for management of Pest Fruit Flies, Griffith University, Nathan,
Queensland, Australia and David Hancock, South Street, Carlisle, Cumbria CA1
2EP, United Kingdom for identification of the fruit fly. Sareer
Ahmad, Research Scholar at Earth Sciences Department, University of Kashmir is
also acknowledged for his help in the creation of study area map.
Abstract: Tephritis cometa Loew, 1840, known to infest field
thistle or Canada thistle or creeping thistle Cirsium
arvense, a medicinal plant used as a tonic
and to treat disease such as diarrhea and tuberculosis; it is diuretic. Cirsium arvense is
a perennial flowering plant belonging to the family Asteraceae and is native to
Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia. We report the first record of Tephritis cometa Loew,
1840 in southern Asia from Kashmir, India. The identified specimen
of Tephritis cometa, commonly
known as Rayed Thistle Fly was found on Cirsium
arvense, a grass (Asteraceae) at the site, SKU2 in
district Kulgam. However, the actual host plant is
unknown. This paper includes morphological studies, key identification,
diagnosis, and its distribution.
Keywords: Kulgam, methyl eugenol, yellow simple
bottle trap, southern Asia.
INTRODUCTION
There are roughly 4,500 species
of true fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae),
and about 100 of them are pests of commercially farmed fruits (Norrbom et al. 1999; Korneyev
& Dilberk 2000). Tephritids
are known to traverse enormous distances and are invasive in all continents (Duyck et al. 2004). These notorious insects are
phytophagous, and some of them can be harmful pests or employed as
weed-controlling bioagents (White & Elson-Harris 1992). The majority of
them are members of a few sizable genera, such as Bactrocera
and Dacus, which are widespread throughout
zoogeographic regions.
Tephritis Latreille is the third largest genus in
the Tephritinae and the sixth largest genus in the Tephritidae with roughly 170 species (Norrbom
et al. 1999; Korneyev & Dirlbek
2000). The majority of Tephritis species
consume various species of the same genus and are commonly referred to as stenophagous or monophagous (Korneyev
2016). Some characteristic features such as two dark frontal setae; dorso-central setae located on or just posterior to
transverse suture; two orbital setae, anterior setae acuminate and dark (brown
or blackish), posterior setae typically lanceolate and pale (whitish or
yellowish; in 2 species brown or black); flat scutellum with two sets of setae,
with apical setae that are 0.5–0.6 times longer than basal setae; wing pattern
varies greatly between species, typically reticulate with a well-developed
apical fork, but can also be stellate or even banded (Freidberg
& Kugler 1989; Merz 1994) set Tephritis
apart from the other genera in the subfamily Tephritinae.
Korneyev (2013), described eleven species
of the genus Tephritis, mostly from the Palaearctic Middle East, with an unusual banded wing
pattern with four new records: Tephritis afrostriata, T. cameo, T. gladius,
and T. ochroptera. Korneyev & Evstigneev (2019),
redescribed six species from western Palaearctic region in which T. conura
(Loew, 1844), T. hendeliana Hering, 1944, and T. hyoscyami
(Linnaeus, 1758) are from Europe, T. anthrax Korneyev & Evstigneev, 2019 from Caucasian and Transcaucasia
mountains, while other two, T. cardualis
Hardy, 1974 and T. atokoptera Agarwal
& Kapoor, 1988, from Pakistan and India, respectively. Among the nine
species of Tephritidae that are recorded for the
first time from Transcaucasia are two new species, T. oedipus Hendel, 1927 and T. hendeliana Hering,
1944 (Evstigneev & Glukhova
2022).
T. cometa
Loew, (1840), belongs to the tribe Tephritini,
family Tephritidae and has been identified as a
frequent pest of Cirsium arvense, C. vulgare, and C. lappaceum. Typically, the larvae of T. cometa eat the flowers of Cirsium
species, while some species induce the formation of galls in roots or stems
of Asteraceae (Freidberg 1984; Merz 1994). The
records of T. cometa for the
first time were reported from Flanders and Belgium (Nobby
2001), Foum El Gherza Dam,
a wet land habitat in Biskar region (Deghivhe-Diab et al. 2021), Iran (Namin
et al. 2010), Turkey (Kutuk 2006; Kutuk
& Katranci 2021), and Europe, Israel,
Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Mangolia, & China (Norrbom et al. 1999).
India is located at the
intersection of the Afro-tropical, Indo-Malayan, and Paleo-Arctic realms and,
therefore, possesses characteristic elements from all three. The combination of
these three diverse realms gives the nation a rich and distinctive biological
variety, due to which, India is one among world’s 12 mega-diverse nations
(Sinha et al. 2010). The Kashmir Himalaya is a part of the Himalayan
biodiversity hotspot that has a serious threat of invasion by foreign insect
species. Despite harmful impacts of these insect species on native biodiversity
and economic and ecological systems of the region, a field-based intensive
sampling study for management of fruit fly with pheromone application
technology (PAT) is lacking, which merits urgent research attention. Therefore,
it is necessary to recognise the fruit flies that can
severely harm a variety of horticultural, agricultural and other plant species.
Furthermore, the majority of Tephritis species
infest the flowerheads and, in certain cases, the stems of Asteraceae hosts,
which may lead to the development of galls (Freidberg
1984). As a result, our objective is to investigate pheromone application
technology for the management of all known and undiscovered fruit flies that
have travelled thousands of miles to establish in the Kashmir Himalaya.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Survey and trap installation
Kashmir, the northernmost
geographical region of the Indian subcontinent where apricots are grown on
2,880 ha, cherry on 2,713 ha, plum on 1,427 ha and peach on 714 ha of land
(Daily Hindustan Times 5 August 2022). In Kashmir Valley’s fruit and vegetable
production zones, a total of 30 sites, three from each district, were chosen
for survey through 2019–2021 (Image 1). A total of 94 para-pheromone-filled
traps were placed over all the selected areas to catch fruit flies. All the
implanted traps were constructed using simple cold drink bottles, which
contained methyl eugenol inside hanging rubber septa and SPLAT at the bottom.
Three equally spaced holes, each measuring 1.5 cm2, were drilled
into the basic bottle trap using a hot T-type handle spanner and a glue gun for
the entry of fruit flies.
Collection and identification
All the installed traps were
checked and refreshed fortnightly. The voucher specimens were deposited at the
Zoology Museum, University of Kashmir. For identification, Hering
(1944), Freidberg & Kugler (1989), and Merz
(1994) were consulted and further confirmation by Prof. Drew, director, ICMF,
Griffith University, Queensland, Australia.
Morphological studies
The present work is totally based
on morphological studies following Kutuk
(2006), Mohamadzade et al. (2015), and Gharajedaghi et al. (2011a). Studied morphological
characters show differences in wing patterns among different species and are
presented in the plate (Image 2). Photographs of wing and habitus were taken
using a Leica S9D Stereo zoom microscope at the Entomology Research Laboratory,
Department of Zoology, University of Kashmir.
Results
According to the results of our
morphological study, Tephritis cometa has now crossed into India’s territory and may
be a severe threat to several grass plants, particularly the country’s Cirsium spp.
Material examined: 2 male, ZoKU-Art/06209,
14.VIII.2021, Tarigam, Kulgam,
Jammu & Kashmir, India, 33.7081°N & 75.0380°E, 1,569.14 m, McPhail trap
2, A. Rayees.
Diagnosis: A small fly of about 5–6
mm with distinctively patterned wings. Ocellus with star shaped mark and five ocellar and frontal setae. Frons about 1.8 times as long as
eye width, third segment of antenna about 1.7 times as long as wide: apical
fork of wing present; branches of apical fork widen distinctly towards wing
margin; two or more hyaline areas present in cell m; basal half of wing mainly
hyaline; cell r1 with small subapical hyaline spot; branches of apical fork
uniformly narrow along their entire length; hyaline spot of cell r2+3 continuous
with basal indentation of cell r1 (usually 3 hyaline spots), (Image 2). The
species is collected along with Bactrocera
spp. in the MacPhail pheromone trap containing methyl
eugenol and SPLAT gel.
Remarks: The genus Tephritis
has general characteristics making it easily identifiable from other Tephritid fruit flies due to the presence of long and thick
inner vertical setae.
Head: The head is predominantly
yellow to brown; yellowish on the occiput and ocellar
tubercle; brown anterior orbital setae; white postorbital setae; first
flagellomere yellow; basal half on arista yellow; palpus mostly yellow,
brownish at apex; wide fronto-facial angle.
Thorax: The majority of the setae
are brown and acuminate; setulae are numerous usually in pairs on the margin of
the scutellum; the basal scutellar seta are longer
than the apical scutellar seta; yellow halter; the
ground colour is often black; the microtrichia are
grey; the scutellum is shiny and silvery.
Legs: Numerous yellow setulae;
tarsi usually brown.
Wing: Branches of apical fork
widen distinctly towards wing margin; two or more hyaline areas present in cell
m; basal half of wing mainly hyaline; cell r1 with small subapical
hyaline spot; branches of apical fork uniformly narrow along their entire length;
hyaline spot of cell r2+3 continuous with basal indentation of cell
r1.
Abdomen: Ground colour usually black; microtrichia numerous and shiny.
Measurements: Body: 5–6 mm; male
wing: 4–5 mm.
Habitat: Various habitats such as
horticulture and agriculture crop including grassland and areas where
Californian Thistle occur (Freidberg 1984; Merz 1994;
Deghivhe-Diab et al. 2021).
Distribution: West and Middle Asia, Europe,
Israel, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mangolia,
& China (Norrbom et al. 1999), Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbek,
Tajikistan, Kirghis, Turkomanas,
Switzerland, England, Anglia, Germany, & Turkey (Foote 1984; White 1988; Freidberg & Kugler 1989; Merz 1994; Kutuk
& Ozgur 2003; Kutuk
2006), Netherland, France, & Iran (Namin et al.
2010; Gharajedaghi et al. 2011b), Flanders &
Belgium (Nobby 2001), and Foum
El Gherza Dam, a wet land habitat in Biskar region (Deghivhe-Diab et
al. 2021).
Host plants: Numerous authors have described
a variety of hosts, including Circium gaillardotii, C. vulgare, C. arvense,
and C. palustre (White 1988; Freidberg & Kugler 1989; Merz 1994). We caught it at
the SKU2 site in the Kulgam district where there were
fruits including Malus domestica Borkh., Pyrus spp. L. and Prunus persica L., vegetables- Cucurbita pepo L., Capsicum
sp. L., Solanum lucopersicum L., S. melongena L., and grasses- Cirsium
arvense Scop., Bromus inermis Leyss., Cynodon dactylon L., Impatiens sp. L., Mentha longifolia L., and Plantago
major L. were present. However, the actual host is not known here in
Kashmir Himalaya.
India status: Reported for the first time in
India.
Table 1. Occurrence of Tephritis
cometa at SKU site in Kulgam
District of southern Kashmir Zone, India.
|
Zones |
Southern Kashmir |
Central Kashmir |
Northern Kashmir |
|||||||
|
Sites Year |
Site SAN |
Site SKU |
Site SPU |
Site SSP |
Site CBD |
Site CGA |
Site CSR |
Site NBN |
Site NBR |
Site NKU |
|
2019 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
2020 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
2021 |
- |
+ |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Total Specimens |
0 |
2 males |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
+—present | -—absent | 2—number
of specimens trapped.
For
images - - click here for full PDF
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