Invasion of solanum fruit fly Bactrocera latifrons (Diptera: Tephritidae) to Yonaguni Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

Solanum fruit fly, Bactrocera latifrons (Hendel) is known as a pest of Solanaceae crops. This species is distributed throughout South-East Asia and has been discovered only on Yonaguni Island in Japan. After its first discovery in 1984 on Yonaguni Island, the species was found in 1985 and 1986, subsequently not detected for twelve years, and again discovered in 1999. We carried out a host fruit survey from 1999 to 2004 to monitor the occurrence of B. latifrons, and confirmed that B. latifrons has repeat generations within Yonaguni Island. During the survey, the number of sites where B. latifrons was found increased gradually, and eventually Yonaguni Island was entirely infested. So far, B. latifrons has not been found on neighboring islands. Most B. latifrons may overwinter at the adult stage on Yonaguni Island. In this survey, Diprocyclos palmatus was first recorded as the host of B. latifrons.