320 Florida Entomologist 84(2) June 2001

CONCERNING THE OCCURRENCE OF OBLIQUA (DIPTERA: ,)IN FLORIDA

GARY J. STECK Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville FL 32614-7100

Regulatory agencies worldwide take careful West, which “either have dates from 1931-33 or note of published literature that describes the dis- (the majority) don’t have a date other than ‘Nov.’, tribution of various pests, which they take into but the latter were reared by L. C. McAlister, so account when establishing their quarantine rules they should have originated from the same time for importing agricultural commodities from period” (A. L. Norrbom, USDA-Systematic Ento- other countries. Thus, timely and accurate report- mology Laboratory, pers. comm.). ing of pest distributions is of great commercial The 1957 record noted above by Weems (1970) importance. is doubtful. DPI identification records show that The West Indian fruit fly, Anastrepha obliqua R. H. Foote did identify three specimens of A. obli- (Macquart) (Diptera: Tephritidae), a serious and qua in 1957, but these were specimens that had highly polyphagous fruit pest, is documented as been collected in Key West in 1935. There are no present in Florida in numerous publications, in- voucher specimens in the FSCA or NMNH to con- cluding some prominent and recent ones. The firm presence of A. obliqua in Florida in 1957. widely used CABI Distribution Maps of Pests Other DPI identification records indicate detection (1988, citing Foote 1965) show A. obliqua present of fruit fly larvae in fruit which were identified as in Florida. Likewise, Foote et al. (1993) include “Anastrepha mombinpraeoptans”: (1) “Tampa, the Florida Keys in their distribution map for A. 1946, fruit?, det[ermination] A. Stone?”; (2) obliqua. Weems (1970) wrote that Anastrepha “Miami, hog plum, 1947, det Merrill and G.W. obliqua (as A. mombinpraeoptans) “apparently Dekle”; (3) “Miami, 1946, guava, det Dr. A. Stone?”; . . . exists at a threshold level in Florida. Most re- (4) “Miami, 1947, mango, det Merrill?”; (5) cent Florida records are for several adult females “Ft. Lauderdale, 1963, Anastrepha sp. (possibly in 1957 from Key West and one larva in mango mombinpraeoptans Sein), mango, det R. H. Foote”. from Ft. Lauderdale, June 25, 1963, which was Fortunately, slide-mounted voucher specimens identified by Dr. R. H. Foote as ‘Anastrepha spe- were retained for instances (1) through (4). Label cies, possibly mombinpraeoptans’.” A similar com- data for each of these show that larvae were taken ment, “the West Indian fruit fly . . . occurs in from intercepted fruit originating in Puerto Rico. southern Florida” was uncritically repeated by The Ft. Lauderdale larva of instance (5) came from Heppner (1991). a residential address. Foote correctly left its iden- I believe that these publications do not cor- tification as uncertain, as it is not possible to sepa- rectly reflect the present situation in Florida, and rate larvae of West Indian fruit fly from those of they likely have been in error for several decades. the Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa This is based on an examination of the entire col- (Loew), and several other of Anastrepha lection of this species from the Florida State Col- (Steck et al. 1991). In fact this larva may have been lection of (FSCA, Gainesville), the a harbinger of the large colonization by Caribbean official repository for specimens of regula- fruit fly in south Florida, where adults were first tory importance in Florida, and the National Mu- detected in 1965. Unfortunately, the 1963 larva seum of Natural History (NMNH, Washington was not retained as a voucher in the FSCA. The DC), plus all of the official identification records of final DPI identification record of A. obliqua was the Division of Plant Industry (DPI) regarding de- from two adult specimens trapped in Key West, tections of this species from 1915 to the present. 1971, determined by Weems. These specimens are Briefly, the history of A. obliqua in Florida is as in the FSCA. I have re-examined them, and found follows (see Clark et al. 1996 and references them to be mis-identified A. suspensa. therein). It was first discovered in Florida in In summary, there is no confirmed evidence of 1930. As a result of that discovery, a large fruit fly the presence of A. obliqua in Florida since 1935. survey and eradication campaign was conducted Apparently, the control actions of 1931-1936 in- from 1930 until 1936. Eradication actions began deed eradicated this pest from Florida as no adult in 1934 and included widespread fruit removal A. obliqua has ever again been detected in the and destruction, and biweekly insecticidal sprays. field, despite the presence of many thousands of During this time, numerous A. obliqua specimens fruit fly detection traps that have been run were collected, all from Key West, excepting a sin- throughout the Keys and peninsular Florida con- gle specimen from mainland Florida. The FSCA tinuously and year-round since 1956. I think it is has 63 specimens taken in Key West from 1931 to safe to say that Florida is completely free of Anas- 1935 and one specimen from Redlands [Dade Co.] trepha obliqua and probably has been so for the in 1935. The NMNH has 48 specimens from Key past 65 years.

Scientific Notes 321

Contribution No. 904, Bureau of Entomology, tropics: Integrated Pest Management—A Florida Nematology & Plant Pathology—Entomology Perspective. Intercept Ltd., Andover, UK. Section. FOOTE, R. H. 1965. Family Tephritidae, pp. 658-678. In A. Stone, C. W. Sabrosky, W. W. Wirth, R. H. Foote, and J. R. Coulson (eds.). A catalog of the Diptera of SUMMARY America north of Mexico. U.S. Dept. of Agric., Agric. A comparison of published and other docu- Handbook No. 276. Washington, DC. mented identification records of West Indian fruit FOOTE, R. H., F. L. BLANC, AND A. L. NORRBOM. 1993. Handbook of the fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) of fly, Anastrepha obliqua, in Florida and their asso- America north of Mexico. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca ciated museum specimens shows that this pest NY. 571 pp. has not re-established in Florida after its eradica- HEPPNER, J. B. 1991. Larvae of fruit flies, 7. Anastrepha tion in about 1935. obliqua (West Indian fruit fly) (Diptera: Tephriti- dae). Entomology Circular 339, Florida Dept. of REFERENCES CITED Agriculture & Consumer Services, 2 pp. STECK, G. J., L. E. CARROLL, H. CELEDONIO-H., AND J. C.A.B. International Institute of Entomology. 1988. Dis- GUILLEN-A. 1990. Methods for identification of tribution maps of pests. Anastrepha obliqua (Mac- Anastrepha larvae (Diptera: Tephritidae), and key to quart). Series A (Agricultural), Map No. 90 (revised). 13 species. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Washington 92: 356- 2 pp. 369. CLARK, R. A., G.J. STECK, AND H. V. WEEMS, JR. 1996. WEEMS, H. V., JR. 1970. West Indian fruit fly Anas- Detection, quarantine, and eradication of fruit flies trepha mombinpraeoptans Sein. Entomology Circu- in Florida, pp. 29-54. In D. Rosen, F. D. Bennett and lar 101, Florida Dept of Agriculture & Consumer J. L. Capinera (eds.). Pest Management in the Sub- Services, 2 pp.