Diversity and Ecological Interactions of Tephritoidea (Diptera)

A special issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450). This special issue belongs to the section "Insect Systematics, Phylogeny and Evolution".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 1207

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Guest Editor
Graduate Program in Entomology and Biodiversity Conservation (PPGECB), Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD), Guaicurus Avenue, km 12, Mato Grosso do Sul 79804-970, Brazil
Interests: insect biology; fruit fly ecology; horticulture losses by Tephritoidea; biological control of Tephritoidea; biocontrol of plant species with Tephritoidea; fruit fly physiology; fruit fly behavior; Lonchaeidae and Tephritidae resource partition; Tephritoidea systematics; Tephritoidea taxonomy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tephritoidea is one of the most important superfamilies of Brachycera from an environmental and agricultural point of view; it includes the Tephritidae, Lonhaeidae, Richardiidae, and Ulidiidae families. These insect families contain many phytophagous species that interact with cultivated fruit and vegetable crops worldwide with elevated economic importance. Ecologically, they play a relevant role as decomposers by returning organic matter to nature, as well as maintaining the guilds of entomopathogens and entomophagous natural enemies that affect key pests in agroecosystems. In contrast, they also reduce yields and therefore impact the economies of rural producers and, consequently, the wealth of countries dedicated to the production of these foods that are essential to human health, as recommended by the World Health Organization. Additionally, several species of Tephritoidea create quarantine restrictions on free trade between nations, both intra- and intercontinentally.

Therefore, this Special Issue of the journal Insects is dedicated to gathering scientific knowledge, as well as hosting and making these publications available on open access systems for the general public and the scientific community. Then, we welcome original research articles, as well as bibliographic reviews relating to the “Diversity and Ecological Interactions of Tephritoidea (Diptera)”, which is one of the most important taxa of insects, having an impact on the environment and agriculture worldwide.

Prof. Dr. Manoel Araécio Uchoa
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Tephritoidea taxonomy
  • Tephritoidea systematics
  • fruit flies Lonchaeidae and Tephritidae
  • frigivorous flies
  • biodiversity
  • plant–insect interactions
  • natural enemies of fruit flies
  • horticulture
  • fruit crops
  • frugivorous flies in natural forests
  • importance of Tephritoidea to science
  • losses in agriculture

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 13229 KB  
Article
Host Plant-Associated Wing Shape Variation of Pre-Dispersal Seed Predator Fruit Fly (Family Tephritidae) Based on Geometric Morphometrics
by Lixuan Kou, Fan Cheng, Mengke Liu, Di Zhang, Hao Wang, Zimeng Guan, Peisong Liu and Gang Wang
Insects 2026, 17(6), 552; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects17060552 - 27 May 2026
Viewed by 538
Abstract
In plant–pre-dispersal seed predator interactions (e.g., flowerheads–flies), insect morphological differentiation is frequently driven by divergent host plants. However, wing morphological variation among flies associated with different flowerhead species has seldom been explored in natural alpine systems. In an alpine meadow of the Qinghai–Tibet [...] Read more.
In plant–pre-dispersal seed predator interactions (e.g., flowerheads–flies), insect morphological differentiation is frequently driven by divergent host plants. However, wing morphological variation among flies associated with different flowerhead species has seldom been explored in natural alpine systems. In an alpine meadow of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, larvae of four host-associated morphological groups of Tephritis sp. cf. femoralis (1, 2, 3, 4) feed on four asteraceous species: Saussurea nigrescens (SN), Carduus nutans (CN), Leontopodium leontopodioides (LL), and Anaphalis lactea (AL). We examined the wing size and shape of these four groups using a landmark-based geometric morphometric approach. The host plants vary significantly in capitular diameter, dry weight, and depth. Within each host-associated group, female wing sizes (length, width and centroid size) were significantly larger than those of males. Wing size differed significantly among the four female and four male groups across host plants. Female ovipositor length varied in parallel with capitulum depth across the four host plants. Significant intersexual differences in wing shape were observed in SN, LL, and AL. Wing shape also varied distinctly among groups in both sexes across host plant capitula, enabling clear discrimination of host-associated groups. Linear discriminant analysis achieved high correct classification rates for both sexes, supporting clear morphological separation among host-associated groups. In conclusion, variations in wing size, wing shape and ovipositor length were associated with host traits. Overall, our study illustrates morphological differentiation correlated with host plants in flowerhead–fly pre-dispersal seed predator interactions in the alpine meadow system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity and Ecological Interactions of Tephritoidea (Diptera))
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