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Mediterranean black fig fly, Silba adipata McAlpine (Diptera:Lonchaeidae), recorded from South AfricaAuthor(s): J. H. Giliomee, E. Venter, M. WohlfarterSource: African Entomology, 15(2):383-384. 2007.Published By: Entomological Society of Southern AfricaDOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4001/1021-3589-15.2.383URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.4001/1021-3589-15.2.383

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Mediterranean black fig fly, Silba adipata McAlpine (Diptera: Lonchaeidae),recorded from South Africa

J.H. Giliomee1*, E. Venter2 & M. Wohlfarter3

1Department of Botany and Zoology, University of Stellenbosch, Matieland, 7602 South Africa2Alternafruit, Private Bag X3036, Paarl, 7620 South Africa3Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, University of Stellenbosch, Matieland, 7602 South Africa

The black fig fly, Silba adipata McAlpine, 1956(Lonchaeidae) (Fig. 1), an agricultural pest speciespreviously known only from the Mediterraneanand Middle East regions, has been found in SouthAfrica for the first time. It has been reared from cul-tivated figs, Ficus carica L., collected at Hermanus,Somerset West, Stellenbosch, Klapmuts andPorterville in the Western Cape Province. During2006, flies emerged initially on 15 November fromthe domestic fig cultivar ‘White Genoa’ growingin a home garden at Somerset West. The owner,R. Broeksma, had brought fallen figs from hisgarden to our laboratory three years earlier andthe flies reared from them at the time were consid-ered by local specialists to be secondary invaders,but specimens of S. adipata were probably amongstthem. Many lonchaeids are secondary feeders onfruit and vegetables (MacGowan 2005).

As the fruit drop problem persisted in the figs,further material was gathered early in the 2006/07season when the fruits were young and firm and

there was little chance of secondary infestationhaving taken place. The single fly species thatemerged was identified by B. Stuckenberg of theNatal Museum as belonging to the genus Silba ofthe family Lonchaeidae and he recommended aspecialist on the Lonchaeidae, I. MacGowan, foridentification to species level. MacGowan (2005)had earlier described several new species ofLonchaeidae from central and southern Africa. Heidentified the flies as S. adipata based on the char-acteristics of the male genitalia and announced thenew distribution record on the website of theMalloch Society (http://www.mallochsociety.org.uk). The flies are easily distinguished from fruitflies (Tephritidae) by their shining black body andlegs, and clear wings.

Silba adipata was originally described byMcAlpine (1956) from Italy, Cyprus and Greece. Itis also known to occur in other Mediterranean andMiddle East countries such as Spain, Egypt andIsrael (http://www.mallochsociety.org.uk/latest-updates), Iraq (Katsoyannos 1983), Turkey(Talhouk 2003) and Japan (Raz 1998). Some of

African Entomology 15(2): 383–384 (2007)

*To whom correspondence should be addressed.E-mail: jhg@sun.ac.za

Fig. 1. Adult and pupa of Silba adipata.

McAlpine’s specimens were bred from figs, but inone case also from fruits of ‘bedingan’, which isegg plant. Katsoyannos (1983), however, consid-ers S. adipata to be monophagous.

The female fly infests the syconium (‘fruit’) byovipositing eggs in the ostiole, the terminal openingof the syconium. Katsoyannos & Guerin (1984)stated that the eggs are laid exclusively in theostiole, but we have also observed black marks inalong the sides of young, unripe fruit, presumablycaused by the oviposition of this species. The effectsof larval feeding can cause unripe fruit to drop andripening fruit to rot. Pupae were found inside thefruit or in the sand of containers in which infestedfruit were kept. According to Katsoyannos &Guerin (1984) there are four to six generations peryear. This species overwinters in the pupal stage inthe soil (Katsoyannos 2004).

The adults of S. adipata are attracted to hexanoland ammonium sulphate, and these chemicals canbe used to monitor for their presence (Katsoyannos

& Guerin 1984; Katsoyannos 2004). In Greece,the pupae were parasitized by Pachycrypodeusvindemmiae Rondani (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae)(Katsoyannos 1983), but no parasitoids wereobserved locally.

Fig trees, which occur in many home gardens,have recently been planted commercially in manyplaces in South Africa, such as Porterville,Stellenbosch, Worcester, Montagu, Ladismith,Prieska, Augrabies and Groblersdal. The newintroduction has already caused serious damageto the fig crop in an orchard near Stellenbosch andas an early invader complements the tephritidfruit flies, Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann and C. rosa(Karsch), which attack ripening figs.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe thank R. Broeksma and D. van Zyl for bring-

ing the fly infestation of figs to our attention,B. Stuckenberg for identifying the family andgenus of the fly and I. MacGowan the species.

REFERENCES

MACGOWAN, I. 2005. New species of Lonchaeidae(Diptera: Schizophora) from central and southernAfrica. Zootaxa 967: 1–23.

McALPINE, J.F. 1956. Old world lonchaeids of the genusSilba Macquart (= Carpolonchaea Bezzi), with descrip-tions of six new species (Diptera: Lonchaeidae). Cana-dian Entomologist 88: 521–544.

KATSOYANNOS, B.I. 1983. Field observations on thebiology and behavior of the black fig fly Silba adipataMcAlpine (Diptera, Lonchaeidae) and trappingexperiments. Zeitschrift für angewandte Entomologie 95:471–476.

KATSOYANNOS, B. 2004. Black fig fly (Diptera;Lonchaeidae). In: Capinera, J.L. (Ed.) Encyclopedia ofEntomology. 319. Kluwer Academic Publishers,Doordrecht.

KATSOYANNOS, B.I. & GUERIN, P.M. 1984 Hexanol: apotent attractant for the black fig fly, Silba adipata.Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 35: 71–74.

RAZ, D. 1998. The phenology of the fig fly and its control.Acta Horticulturae (ISHS) 380: 207–208.

TALHOUK, A.M. 2003. Insects and Mites Injurious to Cropsin Middle Eastern Countries. 2nd Edition. AmericanUniversity of Beirut Press, Beirut.

Accepted 6 June 2007

384 African Entomology Vol. 15, No. 2, 2007