Scientific Notes 287

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FRUIT OF MORRENIA ODORATA (ASCLEPIADACEAE) AS A HOST FOR THE FRUIT , CURVICAUDA (DIPTERA: )

PETER J. LANDOLT U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service 1700 S.W. 23rd. Dr., Gainesville, FL 32604

The papaya fruit fly, Toxotrypana curvicauda Gerstaecker, is a pest of papaya fruit, Carica papaya L. (Caricaceae), throughout much of the neotropics, including southern Florida in the United States. It had previously been considered restricted to papaya (Knab & Yothers 1914; Wolfenbarger & Walker 1974). However, it has been reported from mango in Florida (Butcher 1952) and from additional species of plants in Mexico (Castrejon-Ayala 1987). I report here that papaya fruit flies have been reared from field-collected fruit of Morrenia odorata Lindl., an asclepiad or milkweed, in Florida. Pods were collected from climbing vines of M. odorata on a palm tree in a suburban neighborhood of Sa- rasota during April 1993. These fruit were mature in size (6-7 cm long and 3-5 cm diam) but were still green when collected, and produced latex when broken at the stem. Fruit were held in a screened cage in a laboratory at 22°C and 45±5% RH. On 20 April 1993 thirty-four mature larvae emerged from one of two fruit collected in Sarasota 1 April 1993. Three additional fruit collected 8 April did not yield any fly larvae. The 34 larvae were placed in sterilized potting soil for pupation. Twelve male and 11 female adult papaya fruit flies emerged from 19 to 22 May 1993, 30-33 days after pupation. Papaya fruit flies have not been reported previously from this plant. Morrenia odorata was introduced into Florida, possibly from Argentina, and is widely distributed in the central area of the state. The utilization of such a widely oc- curring weed may conceivably promote a broader distribution of this pest in Florida, and make it easier for the papaya fruit fly to infest disjunct areas of papaya production. Papaya fruit flies have been reared from the fruit of other Asclepiadaceae, in Mexico. Gonolobus sorodius A. Gray is a host of T. curvicauda in central Mexico (Cas- trejon-Ayala 1987, Castrejon-Ayala & Camino-Lavin 1991). Also, Baker et al. (1944) reported talayote, or talayotillo (a vine in the milkweed family) as a host either of T. curvicauda or an undescribed species of Toxotrypana in northeast Mexico. This plant

This article is from Florida Entomologist Online, Vol. 77, No. 2 (1994). FEO is available from the Florida Center for Library Automation gopher (sally.fcla.ufl.edu) and is identical to Florida Entomologist (An International Journal for the Americas). FEO is prepared by E. O. Painter Printing Co., P.O. Box 877, DeLeon Springs, FL. 32130. This document was created with FrameMaker 4.0.2

288 Florida Entomologist 77(2) June, 1994 may be the same as the talayote of Martinez (1969), which is Gonolobus erianthus D.C., a climbing milkweed vine found in Morelos, Mexico. The milkweed genus Mor- renia is also a host of other species of Toxotrypana in Argentina (Blanchard 1959). Voucher specimens are placed in the Florida State Collection of , Gainesville, Florida and in the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. The plant was identified by C. Artaud of the Florida Dept. Agriculture, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville, Florida. I thank R. Knight for information on Asclepi- adaceae and A. L. Norrbom for information on Toxotrypana host records.

SUMMARY

Twenty three adult papaya fruit flies, Toxotrypana curvicauda Gerstaecker, were obtained from 34 mature larvae that emerged from field-collected fruit of the milk- weed vine, Morrenia odorata Lindl. collected in Sarasota, Florida. Morrenia odorata appears to be an alternate host for the papaya fruit fly in Florida.

REFERENCES CITED

BAKER, A. C., W. E. STONE, C. C. PLUMMER, AND M. MCPHAIL. 1944. A review of stud- ies on the Mexican fruit fly and related Mexican species. USDA Misc. Publ. No. 531, 155 pp. BLANCHARD, E. E. 1959. El genero Toxotrypana en la Republica Argentina (Diptera; Trypetidae). Acta Zool. Lilloana 17: 33-45. BUTCHER, F. G. 1952. The occurrence of papaya fruit fly in mango. Florida State Hort. Soc. Proc. 65: 196. CASTREJON-AYALA, F. 1987. Aspectos de biologia y habitos de Toxotrypana cur- vicauda Gerst. (Diptera: Tephritidae) en condiciones de laboratorio y su distri- bution en una plantacion de Carica papaya L. en Yuatepec, Mor. BS Thesis, Instituto Polictecnico Nacional, Mexico D.F., Mexico. 88 p. CASTREJON-AYALA, F., AND M. CAMINO-LAVIN. 1991. New host plant record for Tox- otrypana curvicauda (Diptera: Tephritidae). Florida Entomol. 74: 466. KNAB, F., AND W. W. YOTHERS. 1914. Papaya fruit fly. J. Agric. Res. 2: 447-453. MARTINEZ, M. 1969. Las Plantas Medicinales de Mexico. 5th Edition, Justo Sierra 52. Mexico 1, D.F. WOLFENBARGER, D. O., AND S. D. WALKER. 1974. Two major pest problems of papa- yas. Proc. Florida State Hort. Soc. 85: 384-385.

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