Taxonomy
Valid name:
Dacus (
callantra)
solomonensis Malloch, 1939
Preferred common name: Solomon fruit fly
Synonyms:
Callantra solomonensis (subsequent combination in Drew, 1973)
Morphology-based identification
Dacus solomonensis can be identified reliably based on morphological characters. Spot characters are the elongated abdomen with abdomen segments appearing to 'roof-tile' in lateral view, and the broad costal band on the wing that reaches across vein M.
Molecular identification
COI sequence data can be used to identify
D. solomonesis (
Doorenweerd et al. 2024Doorenweerd et al. 2024:
Doorenweerd C, San Jose M, Leblanc L, Barr N, Geib SM, Chung AYC, Dupuis JR, Ekayanti A, Fiegalan E, Hemachandra KS, Hossain MA, Huang C, Hsu Y, Morris KY, Maryani A. Mustapeng A, Niogret J, Pham TH, Thi Nguyen N, Sirisena UGAI, Todd T, Rubinoff D, 2024. Towards a better future for DNA barcoding: Evaluating monophyly‐ and distance‐based species identification using COI gene fragments of Dacini fruit flies. Molecular Ecology Resources 24: e13987. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13987).
Distribution
Dacus solomensis is native to Bougainville Island and the Solomon Islands, which is its presumed native range.
Further information
Dacus solomonensis is a pest of cucurbit fruits that can be locally abundant, but it is less economically impacting than the other Dacini pests in the Solomon Islands:
B. frauenfeldi,
B. umbrosa, and
Z. cucurbitae (
Hollingsworth et al. 2003Hollingsworth et al. 2003:
Hollingsworth RG, Drew RA, Allwood AJ, Romig M, Vagalo M, Tsatsia F, 2003. Host plants and relative abundance of fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) species in the Solomon Islands. Australian Journal of Entomology 42: 95–108. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-6055.2003.00337.x).
