Bactrocera (Bactrocera) venefica (Hering)

Singh, Maneesh Pal & Hancock, David Lawrence, 2025, Two new species of genus Bactrocera Macquart (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae: Dacini) from northern Himalayas and new records of host plants, distribution or variation in three other species in India, Zootaxa 5666 (2), pp. 175-194 : 182-185

Bactrocera (Bactrocera) venefica (Hering)

( Figures 5–7 )

Diagnosis: A medium-sized (6.6 mm) black species with golden fulvous head and short postsutural lateral yellow vittae not extending beyond supra-alar setae. Scutellum with a large, black apical patch. All legs golden fulvous except hind tibiae fuscous to black. Wing with very narrow costal band, mostly pale brown in cells sc and r 1 and narrowly expanding into an elongate and fuscous apical spot; anal stripe dark fuscous and expanding into a subtriangular infuscation at end of anal lobe; costal cell c hyaline and devoid of microtrichia. Abdomen largely black with a black medial vitta.

4+5

Head: Golden fulvous with dark black lunule, 1.32 mm high, frons fulvous except black marking on median hump between posterior frontal setae and base of each frontal and orbital setae. Face with two widely spaced small circular black spots. Gena golden fulvous with slightly darker subgenal spot. Antennae 1.18 mm long and flagellum (0.88 mm) dorsolaterally darker. Postocciput black. Setae: 2 frontal, 1 orbital, 2 vertical, 1 genal. Row of 7-8 postocular golden fulvous setulae and small ocellar setae present.

Thorax: Scutum black with yellow markings as follows: postpronotal lobe except black anterodorsally, notopleuron, short and narrow postsutural lateral vittae not extending beyond supra-alar setae. Greyish submedian and lateral vittae present due to differently arranged setulae. Anepisternal stripe narrow, as wide or slightly wider than notopleuron and extending onto katepisternum as a narrow yellow spot. Apical half of katatergite and anatergite yellow and basal half black. Scutellum with narrow black basal band and broad black apical patch enclosing scutellar setae. All legs yellowish fulvous except slightly darker tarsomeres and hind tibiae. Hind femora slightly fulvous at femoral-tibial joint. Setae: scapular 2, notopleural 2, postsutural supra-alar 1, intra-alar 1, postalar 1, apical scutellar 1 and anepisternal 1.

Wing (5.15 mm), hyaline with very narrow costal band forming an elongate apical spot. Cells bc and c hyaline and devoid of microtrichia or infuscation ( Figure 6B ). Cell sc apically black and basally light brown or lightly infuscated. Cell r 1 basally pale brown or subhyaline and apically fuscous, continuing as a very narrow costal band expanding into a narrow apical spot. Anal stripe dark fuscous, slightly overlapping cell bcu extension and expanding into a subtriangular infuscation at end of anal lobe. Vein R 4+5 with two rows of setulae, upper row of setulae sparse and ending beyond r-m cross vein ( Figure 6C ).

Abdomen: Tergite I black with narrow yellowish apical band and tergite II yellowish with broad black basal band. Tergite III black with medial black vitta extending to tergite V and very narrow dark brown (almost black) spots basally either side of medial vitta. Tergite IV laterally black with dark brownish medial spots separated by medial vitta. Tergite V almost black, dark brownish in middle. Pecten present on tergite III and dark black ceromata on tergite V. Sternite V with deep posterior concavity.

Genitalia: Epandrium elongate-oval in posterior view ( Figure 7A ), higher than proctiger, the latter almost triangular, folded anteriorly and wrapped in middle like a siphon ( Figure 7D ). Rim of epandrium with two distinct rows of long setae, each in alternate fashion. Lateral surstylus longer than median surstylus, the latter ending in thick striated chisel-shaped prensisetae. Anterior lobe of lateral surstylus shorter than posterior but slightly elongated. Lateral side of posterior lobe well patterned. Aedeagus 2.76 mm long excluding glans (0.49 mm) and latter with long capitulate subapical lobe. Preputium broad, bulbous basally and distinctly patterned with 6-8 rows of triangular shaped spicules ( Figure 7C ). Acrophallus broad anteriorly and narrow basally. Vesica broader and shorter than subapical lobe.

Voucher specimen: 1 ♂, on Prunus persica , INDIA, Himachal Pradesh, Solan, Nauni , 30°51’47” N 77°10’7”. 12.iii.2024, Maneesh Leg. In the first author’s collection .

Host Plant: Unknown (swept from Prunus persica ) .

Parapheromone: Unknown.

Remarks: In general appearance and colour the Indian specimen is very similar to the single specimen recorded from Myanmar by Hering (1938) and redescribed by Drew & Romig (2013), but the lack of microtrichia in costal cell c, darker abdominal tergites and the yellow extension of anepisternal stripe on katepisternum forming a narrow yellow spot, suggest that it might belong to a separate species, the presence of a row of microtrichia in costal cell c being a key character of B. venefica (see Drew & Roming, 2016), which distinctly separates it from the Indian specimen. However, further material is required in order to determine whether the differences are varietal or specific.

The male glans is very distinctive with its patterned preputium and triangular spines in preputium that are long and broad, even broader than in Dacus and the Zeugodacus group of subgenera, and the lateral surstylus has a slightly longer anterior lobe. This type of preputium has not been recorded previously in any species in subgenus Bactrcoera except for a partial pattern in B. prabhakari Maneesh, Gupta & Hancock ( Maneesh et al., 2023), which is possibly homoplasius ( Hancock & Drew, 2024). A patterned preputium is common in Dacus and the Zeugodacus , Melanodacus and Tetradacus groups of subgenera of Bactrocera , and it might also be homoplasious in the B. venefica specimen from India; however, the preputium is bulbous and broader than long, which has not been seen yet in any other Dacus or Bactrocera species (all have longer preputium; at least longer than broad); also both lobes of lateral surstylus are equally long, indicating a distinctive placement within the genus Bactrocera . Hancock & Drew (2025) included it in the venefica group in the zonata complex, together with B. hyalina (Shiraki) .

Figures

FIGURE 5. Bactrocera venefica (Hering) A & B: Head, C: Thorax, D: Lateral thorax, E: Legs and F: Abdomen

FIGURE 6. Bactrocera venefica (Hering) A: Wing, B: Costal cell, C: Setulae on vein R

FIGURE 7. Bactrocera venefica (Hering) A: Posterior view of epandrium, B: Glans, C: Preputium and D: Lateral view of epandrium