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Species
Rhagoletis pomonella Walsh
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 5
Specimens with Barcodes: 7
Species With Barcodes: 1
This species is at no risk of extinction and requires no special protective status.
US Migratory Bird Act: no special status
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
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Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Rhagoletis_pomonella/ |
The apple maggot is an agricultural pest capable of decimating entire crops when in sufficient numbers. Even when using aggressive pest control methods are implemented, which may wipe out adult apple maggot populations one year, some pupae do not emerge until the following year making Rhagoletis mendax very difficult to completely eradicate.
Negative Impacts: crop pest
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Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Rhagoletis_pomonella/ |
There are no known positive economic benefits derived from this species.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Rhagoletis_pomonella/ |
The larval form of the dipteran fly Rhagoletis pomonella is known as the apple maggot: a pest of apple orchards. It is a species native to North America, thought to have diverged into two separate races (incipient species) in the early 1800s, when apples were introduced into the United States. The pest race feeds primarily on apples (and sometimes alternative fruiting hosts including cherry and plum), whereas the other race primarily uses Hawthorns (Crataegus sp.). The adult form of this insect is about 5 mm (0.2 inch) long, slightly smaller than a housefly, with a white dot on its thorax and a characteristic black banding shaped like an "F" on its wings. After female flies lay eggs just under the skin of the fruit, the small white/yellow larva hatch out and burrow in the fruit’s flesh, feeding on the juices. When fully grown (about 125 mm long), the maggot chews out of the fruit and drops to the ground to pupate just under the soil, usually remaining a pupae for two winters before hatching out as an adult fly. Chemicals can be used to treat the adult fly (by spraying the tree) or targeted at the pupae, by chemically treating the soil. The maggot stage has many enemies, including several braconid wasps: Utetes canaliculatus, Diachasmimorpha mellea, and Diachasma alloeum.
Miller, Steele and Smith; Weems and Fasulo 2009; Wikipedia 2011)
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Rights holder/Author | Text modified from Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Apple_maggot&oldid=436864792 |
The apple maggot (Rhagoletis pomonella), also known as railroad worm, is a pest of several fruits, mainly apples. Before the arrival of apples from Europe,[arrival where?] it was found mainly in hawthorns.
The adult form of this insect is about 5 mm (0.2 inch) long, slightly smaller than a house fly, with a white dot on its thorax and a characteristic black banding shaped like an "F" on its wings. When threatened it turns its wings 90 degrees and moves them up and down whilst walking sideways; the combination mimics the appearance of it being a spider due to the wing pattern in the new position appearing as additional legs. The larva, which is the stage of this insect's life cycle that causes the actual damage to the fruit, is similar to a typical fly larva or maggot. Other "worms," especially the larvae of the codling moth, that infest the insides of apples are often confused with the apple maggot. Generally speaking, however caterpillars often feed in the apple’s core while apple maggots feed on the fruit flesh. In infested fruit, the larvae are often difficult to detect due to their pale, cream colour and small body size. The maggot stage has many enemies, including several braconid wasps: Utetes canaliculatus, Diachasmimorpha mellea, and Diachasma alloeum.
The adult stage lays its eggs inside the fruit. The young "worm" that hatches consumes the fruit (rarely will the larva leave the fruit while it is still hanging on the tree), and causes it to bruise and decay and finally drop before ripening. The insect overwinters as a pupa in the soil. It only emerges after metamorphosis into a relatively defenseless fly. It uses batesian mimicry as a method of defense - its coloration resembles that of the forelegs and pedipalps of a jumping spider (family Salticidae).[1] Adults emerge from late June through September, with their peak flight occurring in August.
Evolution[edit]
Rhagoletis pomonella is significant evolutionarily in that the race of this species that feeds on apples spontaneously emerged from the hawthorn feeding race in the 1800 - 1850 AD time frame after apples were introduced into North America. The apple feeding race does not now normally feed on hawthorns and the hawthorn feeding race does not now normally feed on apples. This constitutes a possible example of an early step towards the emergence of a new species, a case of sympatric speciation.[2]
The emergence of the apple race of Rhagoletis pomonella also appears to have driven formation of new races among its parasites.[3]
Notes and references[edit]
- ^ Ricklefs, Robert E. and Gary L. Miller (2000). Ecology. W.H. Freeman and Company.
- ^ Feder, J. L. (1998) The apple maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella: flies in the face of conventional wisdom about speciation? In Howard, D. J. & Berlocher, S. H. (Eds.) Endless Forms: Species and Speciation. New York, Oxford University Press.
- ^ Forbes, A.A., L.L. Stelinski, T.H.Q. Powell, J.J. Smith and J.L. Feder. 2009. Sequential sympatric speciation across trophic levels. Science 323: 776-779.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Apple_maggot&oldid=633478612 |
Rhagoletis mendax are found in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. More specifically, apple maggots range from Florida to Nova Scotia on the extreme east portion of its range, and from Texas to Alberta on the extreme west.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )
- Arnett, R. 1985. American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.
- Milne, L., M. Milne. 1980. Apple Maggot Fly (Rhagoletis pomonella). Pp. 675 in L Milne, M Milne, eds. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Rhagoletis_pomonella/ |
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/fruit/tropical/apple_maggot_fly.htm
Founded in 1996 by Thomas Fasulo, Featured Creatures provides in-depth profiles of insects, nematodes, arachnids and other organisms.
The Featured Creatures site is a cooperative venture of the University of Florida's Entomology and Nematology Department and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Division of Plant Industry.
Visit Featured Creatures at http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Featured Creatures |
Source | http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/fruit/tropical/apple_maggot_fly.htm |
Apple maggots have a yellow or orange head, and legs that range in color from bright yellow to gray. The thorax may range from shiny black to tan depending on enviroment, and is crossed by three white lines (in males) or four white lines (in females). These lines blur together at the sides of the thorax. Eyes are red, and the antennae's third segment is larger and more rounded than the other segments. Four dark bars, sometimes "F" shaped, are present on the wings, which lack an apical spot.
Range length: 5 to 7 mm.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; heterothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes colored or patterned differently
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Rhagoletis_pomonella/ |
Rhagoletis mendax live primarily in apple orchards (hence the name) and at the edge of deciduous forests.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest
Other Habitat Features: agricultural
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Rhagoletis_pomonella/ |