Rhagoletis mendax
Encyclopedia
Rhagoletis mendax is a species of tephritid fruit fly
known by the common name blueberry maggot. It is a major pest of blueberry
crops in the eastern and southern United States and eastern Canada. It attacks several species of blueberry and related plants. The larva is 5 to 8 millimeters long and white with tiny black mouthparts. The adult fly is slightly smaller, and mostly black in color with white stripes, orange-red eyes, and black-banded wings. The fly is destructive to fruit when it is a larva. The adult female fly lays a single egg in a blueberry, and when the larva hatches it consumes the fruit, usually finishing the entire berry in under three weeks. The larva then falls into the soil and pupa
tes. Adult flies emerge, mate, and oviposit when blueberry plants are producing fruit. Each female fly lays 25 to 100 eggs.
The blueberry maggot is closely related to the apple maggot
, R. pomonella, a fruit fly in the same genus. Blueberry maggot infestations are generally controlled chemically
.
, Nova Scotia
, Ontario
in Canada
, and the eastern United States
.
Tephritidae
Tephritidae is one of two fly families referred to as "fruit flies", the other family being Drosophilidae. Tephritidae does not include the biological model organisms of the genus Drosophila , which is often called the "common fruit fly". There are nearly 5,000 described species of tephritid...
known by the common name blueberry maggot. It is a major pest of blueberry
Blueberry
Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...
crops in the eastern and southern United States and eastern Canada. It attacks several species of blueberry and related plants. The larva is 5 to 8 millimeters long and white with tiny black mouthparts. The adult fly is slightly smaller, and mostly black in color with white stripes, orange-red eyes, and black-banded wings. The fly is destructive to fruit when it is a larva. The adult female fly lays a single egg in a blueberry, and when the larva hatches it consumes the fruit, usually finishing the entire berry in under three weeks. The larva then falls into the soil and pupa
Pupa
A pupa is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. The pupal stage is found only in holometabolous insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four life stages; embryo, larva, pupa and imago...
tes. Adult flies emerge, mate, and oviposit when blueberry plants are producing fruit. Each female fly lays 25 to 100 eggs.
The blueberry maggot is closely related to the apple maggot
Apple maggot
The apple maggot , also known as railroad worm, is a pest of several fruits, mainly apples. The adult form of this insect is about 5 mm 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...
, R. pomonella, a fruit fly in the same genus. Blueberry maggot infestations are generally controlled chemically
Insecticide
An insecticide is a pesticide used against insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against the eggs and larvae of insects respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and the household. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind...
.
Distribution
New BrunswickNew Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and the eastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
External links
- Species description
- blueberry maggot on the UFUniversity of FloridaThe University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
/ IFASInstitute of Food and Agricultural SciencesThe University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information...
Featured Creatures Web site - Photos and diagrams