Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society (1995) 68, 133-142

Jerry A. Payne and Stewart H. Berlocher (1995)
Distribution and host plants of the blueberry maggot fly, Rhagoletis mendax (Diptera: Tephritidae) in southeastern North America
Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 68 (2), 133-142
Abstract: To better determine the geographic range, pattern of host plant usage and phenology of Rhagoletis mendax, the blueberry maggot fly, an extensive set of rearings from fruit of Vaccinium and Gaylussacia (Ericaceae) species was made, primarily from natural populations of these host plants. Collecting focused on the relatively unstudied southeastern United States, although fruit collections as far north as Michigan and as far west as Texas were made. The known range of the blueberry maggot fly has been extended west to the Ozark Plateau, and the fly is now known to be much more widely distributed in southeastern North America than previously thought. Although R. mendax infests many species of Vaccinium and Gaylussacia in the northernmost part of its range, in most of its range it infests almost exclusively V. stamineum (deerberry). The relatively inflexible diapause characteristics of R. mendax may contribute to this restriction in host plant usage.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Rhagoletis mendax		U.S.A. (SE)