Tephritidae Newman, 1834

Judita Kinkorová

Department of Zoology, Charles University, CZ-128 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic; kinkor@tc.cz

Medium sized (2.0-8.0 mm) acalyptrate Brachycera, with often brightly coloured and/or patterned bodies. Eyes dichoptic; ocelli present; antenna short and stout. Wing rather short and wide, with a distinct anal lobe; prominently patterned. Legs short and stout. Females with an ovipositor (aculeus), a piercing organ for inserting eggs into plant tissues. Tephritids are often called fruit flies because the larvae of most species inhabit the fruits or other seed-bearing organs of flowering plants (Merz 1994, White 1988). The larvae are phytophagous (monophagous, polyphagous); some species are leaf miners and stem-borers, whilst others live in roots. Most Czech and Slovak tephritids are associated with composite plants (Asteraceae), and many of these form galls in the capitulum (flower head), stem or root system. The adults feed on pollen and nectar (Kinkorová 1999b, Merz 1994, White 1988). Some species are pests, whilst others are beneficial biological control agents of weeds.

Altogether 267 species are known to occur in Europe and adjacent areas (as included in the Fauna Europaea) (Merz & Korneyev 2004); 116 are listed in the present checklist (Kinkorová 1997) 105 in the Czech Republic (90 in Bohemia, 92 in Moravia), and 97 in Slovakia. Since the last version of the checklist, the number of species in the Czech Republic has increased by 4 (3 in Bohemia, 1 in Moravia) and in Slovakia by 13. The species richness of the fruit fly fauna is well known in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The basic characteristics of the family were given by White (1988), Merz (1994) and Kinkorová (1999b). All the Czech species can be reliably distinguishable by their morphological features and wing pattern, and also by the structure of the male and female terminalia. They can be identified using the key and figures by White and Merz (White 1988, Merz 1994). The nomenclature of the present checklist follows that of the Fauna Europaea (Merz 1994, Merz & Korneyev 2004, White 1988).

References

[1] Kinkorová J. 1997: Tephritidae. In Chvála M. (ed.): Check List of Diptera (Insecta) of the Czech and Slovac Republic. Karolinum – Charles University Press, Prague, 130 pp.

[2] Kinkorová J. 1998: Faunistic records. Tephritidae. In Chvála M. (ed.): Dipterologica bohemoslovaca Vol. 10. Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Biologica 50: 192.

[3] Kinkorová J. 1999a: Faunistic records. Tephritidae. In Jedlička L. (ed.): Dipterologica bohemoslovaca Vol. 9, Slovak Entomological Society, Bratislava, p. 199.

[4] Kinkorová J. 1999b: What do we know about Czech and Slovak Tephritidae (Diptera)? In Jedlička L. (ed.): Dipterologica bohemoslovaca Vol. 9, Slovak Entomological Society, Bratislava, pp. 89-95.

[5] Kinkorová J. 2004: Faunistic records. Tephritidae. In Bitušík P. (ed.): Dipterologica Bohemoslovaca Vol. 12. Acta Facultatis Ecologiae 10: 161.

[6] Kinkorová J., Merz B., Barták M & Kubík Š. 2005: Tephritidae. In Barták M. & Kubík Š. (eds): Diptera of Podyjí National Parkand its Environs. Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze, pp. 256-260.

[7] Kozánek M. 1998: Tephritidae (Diptera) of Slovakia: Additions to faunal list. Entomofauna carpathica 10: 111-121.

[8] Merz B. 1994: Diptera: Tephritidae. Insecta Helvetica fauna 10. 198 pp.

[9] Merz B. & Barták M. 2001: Tephritidae. In Barták M. & Vaňhara J. (eds): Diptera in an industrially affected region (North-Western Bohemia, Bílina and Duchcov environs), II. Folia Facultatis Scientiarium Naturalium Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis, Biologia 105: 301-305.

[10] Merz B. & Korneyev V. 2004: Fauna Europaea: Tephritidae. In Pape T. (ed.): Fauna Europaea: Diptera, Brachycera. Fauna Europaea version 1.1, http://www.faunaeur.org.

[11] White I.M. 1988: Tephritid flies. Diptera: Tephritidae. Handbooks for identification of British insects. RES, London, 134 pp.

[12] White I.M. & Korneyev V.A. 1989: A revision of the western Palaearctic species of Urophora Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Tephritidae). Systematic Entomology 14: 327-374