The population dynamics of Tephritidae that inhabit flowerheads

Abstract

The Tephritidae contains about 4500 species of small- to medium-size acalypterate flies distributed widely across all Zoogeographic regions of the world (Foote, 1984). With few exceptions, the larvae are phytophagous and feed inside specific plant structures, such as flowers, leaves, stems, roots or fruit. The greater number of species can be divided into two main ecological groups: those which inhabit flower-heads of herbaceous Compositae (=Asteraceae), and those which attack the soft fruits of a wider range of plants, including many shrubs and trees. The tephritids that inhabit flower-heads include most species in the subfamilies Tephritinae and Myopitinae, and are dominant in Palaearctic and Nearctic regions, whereas frugivorous tephritids, often called fruit flies, belong primarily to the subfamilies Dacinae and Trypetinae and are most abundant in tropical and subtropical areas (Foote, 1984; Freidberg, 1984; Robinson and Hooper, 1989; White, 1989).