Endophagous tephritid flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) associated with Asteraceae in Chapecó, SC

Abstract

This study was carried out aiming to make an inventory of the endophagous tephritid fauna associated with Asteraceae capitula in Chapecó town, Santa Catarina state. Samples of Asteraceae were taken from September 2005 to September 2006. Overall, we found 37 Asteraceae species; 14 of these presented tephritid species. Ten tephritid species were reared from the Asteraceae flowerheads. The most abundant genus was Tomoplagia. We found evidence of new associations between endophagous tephritids and host plants.

Keywords

• Insect-plant interactions
• Host plants
• New records
• Tephritinae