Handbook of the Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae)of America North of Mexico

The Biology of Nonfrugivorous Tephritid Fruit Flies

“…One of the greatest roadblocks to the development and testing of hypotheses regarding the evolutionary biology and ecology of the Tephritidae is the current lack of a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis (15). When such a treatment is developed (61), significant advances in our understanding of the biological and ecological features of this family will certainly follow.…”

“…The study of tephritid biology contributes substantially to the validation of species and to recognition of species groups and their classification (15,126). Furthermore, the family is divided into two major groupings based primarily on their food type (133).…”

“…Furthermore, the family is divided into two major groupings based primarily on their food type (133). Three subfamilies of Tephritidae are recognized, the Dacinae, the Trypetinae, and the Tephritinae (15), but the classification of subfamilies is currently under revision. The Dacinae and Trypetinae use the fleshy fruit of host plants from a wide variety of families as larval food sources (127).…”

“…The Dacinae and Trypetinae use the fleshy fruit of host plants from a wide variety of families as larval food sources (127). The Tephritinae use the vegetative parts of host plants and flower heads as larval food, and many form galls in and on these plant structures (15,126,133). The tephritines, with some exceptions, feed solely on plants in the family Asteraceae.…”

“…The Tephritidae (Muscomorpha: Tephritoidea) is one of the larger families of Diptera, with ∼4200 described species in ∼500 genera (15). The subfamily Tephritinae is comprised of ∼200 genera worldwide with ∼1800 species (15,16,127).…”