Euaresta Main | Tephritidae Main | Diptera Home | SEL Home

Euaresta stigmatica Coquillett

Recognition
Click here for full description and more images
Euaresta stigmatica is one of the species of Euaresta with the anterior notopleural seta present, the apex of cell r₂₊₃ with 2 marginal hyaline spots, and the ground color of the thorax dark brown.. In wing pattern it closely resembles E. bellula, stelligera, and especially E. bella, in that the bulla is always present and the basal half to two-thirds of cell r₄₊₅ is dark. It differs from all other Euaresta species in usually having more extensive hyaline or yellow areas in the pterostigma (a subapical spot and/or an extention from the basal spot along the posterior margin such that there may be a discrete brown spot near the center of the pterostigma). This character, combined with the often comparatively light brown color of the wing pattern, makes this species frequently recognizable without the aid of a microscope. E. stigmatica further differs from E. bellula and stelligera in that the basal hyaline marginal spot in cell r₁ is always strongly narrowed or interrupted at vein R₂₊₃, whereas the subapical spot crosses it broadly. It can be further distinguished from E. bella by its slightly longer female terminalia (oviscape longer than 0.60 mm) and its mostly nonmicrotrichose abdominal tergite 5 (Foote et al. 1993). The egg, three larval instars, and puparium were described by Headrick et al. (1995).

Classification and Evolutionary Relationships
Order: Diptera. Family: Tephritidae. Subfamily: Tephritinae. Genus: Euaresta. Species: stigmatica. Author: Coquillett.
Relationships among the species of Euaresta were analyzed by Norrbom (1993). Click here for more detailed discussion of Euaresta phylogeny. Euaresta stigmatica has been placed in the bullans species group.

Names Used for this Species
Euaresta stigmatica Coquillett 1902: 180.
Click here to link to fly names database

Type Data
Syntypes - Male & female (USNM), USA: Arizona: Flagstaff; & Williams.

Distribution
Euaresta stigmatica is known from USA (Montana east to Michigan, south to California & Texas) and northern Mexico.
Click here for map
Click here for specimen data

Biology
Euaresta stigmatica has been reared from female flowers or developing seeds of Ambrosia acanthicarpa Hooker, ambrosioides (Cavanilles) Payne, deltoidea (Torrey) Payne, and illicifolia (Gray) Payne (Quisenberry 1950, Goeden & Ricker 1974, 1976, Foote 1984). It breeds to a lesser extent in male flowers of at least A. acanthicarpa and illicifolia (Headrick et al. 1995). The life history and behavior of this species were studied extensively by Headrick et al. (1995).

Economic Significance
Euaresta stigmatica may be considered a beneficial species because it reduces seed and/or pollen production by its ragweed and bur sage host plants, some of which are weeds and/or causes of pollen allergies. In a small sample of plants from Arizona, E. stigmatica was reported to destroy 1.0-2.0% of the seeds examined of A. ambrosioides, 4.0-33.0% of those of A. deltoidea, and 70.0-90.0% of those of A. illicifolia (Foote 1984).

References
Click here to access fruit fly literature database
Aldrich, J. M. 1905. A catalog of North American Diptera (or two-winged flies). Smithson. Misc. Collect. 46(2): 680 p. [p. 613, in catalog]
Coquillett, D. W. 1902. New acalyptrate Diptera from North America. J. N. Y. Entomol. Soc. 10: 177-191. [p. 180, description]
Foote, B. A. 1966. Biology and immature stages of eastern ragweed flies (Tephritidae). Proc. North Cent. Br. Entomol. Soc. Am. (1965) 20: 105-106. [p. 106, host]
Foote, B. A. 1984. Host plant records for North American ragweed flies (Diptera: Tephritidae). Entomological News 95: 51-54. [p. 53, hosts]
Foote, R. H. 1965. Family Tephritidae, p. 658-678. In A. Stone, C. W. Sabrosky, W. W. Wirth, R. H. Foote & J. R. Coulson, eds., A catalog of the Diptera of America north of Mexico. U.S. Dep. Agric. Agric. Handb. 276: 1696 p. [p. 665, in catalog]
Foote, R. H. & F. L. Blanc. 1963. The fruit flies or Tephritidae of California. Bull. Calif. Insect Surv. 7: 117 p. [p. 21, review, Calif.]
Foote, R. H., F. L. Blanc & A. L. Norrbom. 1993. Handbook of the fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) of America north of Mexico. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca. 571 p. [review, USA]
Goeden, R. D. & D. W. Ricker. 1974. The phytophagous insect fauna of the ragweed, Ambrosia acanthicarpa, in southern California. Environ. Entomol. 3: 827-834. [p. 831, hosts]
Goeden, R. D. & D. W. Ricker. 1976. The phytophagous insect faunas of the ragweeds, Ambrosia chenopodiifolia, Ambrosia eriocentra, Ambrosia ilicifolia in southern California. Environ. Entomol. 5: 923-930. [p. 929, hosts]
Harris, P. & G. L. Piper. 1970. Ragweed (Ambrosia spp.: Compositae): its North American insects and the possibilities for its biological control. Tech. Bull. Commonw. Inst. Biol. Control 13: 117-140. [p. 134, host]
Headrick, D. H., R. D. Goeden & J. A. Teerink. 1995. Life history and description of immature stages of Euaresta stigmatica (Diptera: Tephritidae) on Ambrosia spp. (Asteraceae) in southern California. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 88: 58-71. [immature stages, life history, behavior]
Norrbom, A. L. 1993. New species and phylogenetic analysis of Euaresta Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae) with a key to the species from the Americas south of Mexico. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 95: 195-209. [phylogenetic relationships]
Norrbom, A. L., L. E. Carroll, F. C. Thompson, I. M. White & A. Freidberg. 1999. Systematic database of names, pp. 65-251. In F. C. Thompson (ed.), Fruit Fly Expert Identification System and Systematic Information Database. Myia (1998) 9, vii + 524 pp. & Diptera Data Dissemination Disk (CD-ROM) (1998) 1. [p. 145, in catalog]
Quisenberry, B. F. 1950. The genus Euaresta in the United States (Diptera: Tephritidae. J. N.Y. Entomol. Soc. 58: 9-38. [p. 33, revision]
Wasbauer, M. S. 1972. An annotated host catalog of the fruit flies of America north of Mexico (Diptera: Tephritidae). Occas. Pap. Calif. Dep. Agric. Bur. Entomol. 19: [i] + 172 p.[p. 113, host list]

Links