Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

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Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann, 1830)

mosca, fly

Fruit flies, Anastrepha fraterculus. Photo: Julia Bolaños, CDF, 2021.
Fruit flies, Anastrepha fraterculus. Photo: Julia Bolaños, CDF, 2021.

This is an economically important species in which the larvae feed on healthy fleshy fruit of various kinds (Foote 1982; Harper et al. 1989; White & Elson-Harris 1992). Adults were reared from larvae collected from the fruit of `Rose Apple' (Eugenia). This species mostly inhabits agricultural zones, but also frequents native areas such as Scalesia.

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Arthropoda

Class
Insecta

Order
Diptera

Suborder
Brachycera

Family
Tephritidae

Genus
Anastrepha

Species
fraterculus

Taxon category: Accepted

Origin: Introduced - established

Introduction

Year of first record: 1979

Mode of introduction: Accidental

Introduction Pathway: Contaminant

Subpathway: Food contaminant

Introduced status: Naturalized

Invasive status: Potentially Invasive

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: Widely distributed from Texas south to Argentina and Chile; Champion, Daphne Major, Fernandina, Floreana, Marchena, San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz, Seymour

References

  • Causton, C.E. Zapata, C.E. & Roque-Albelo, L. (2000) Alien Arthropod Species Deterred from Establishing in the Galápagos, but how many are entering undetected? Notícias de Galápagos 61: 10-13.
  • Foote, R.H. (1982) The Tephritidae (Diptera) of the Galápagos Archipelago. Mem. Entomological Society Washington 10: 48-55.
  • Harper, J.D. Escobar, J.S. & Cereceda, G. (1989) Collection of Anastrepha fraterculus on Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos Province, Ecuador. The Florida Entomologist 72(1): 205-206.
  • Peck, S.B. (1996) Origin and development of an insect fauna on a remote archipelago: The Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. In: Keast A., Miller S.E. (eds.): The origin and evolution of Pacific Island biotas, New Guinea to eastern Polynesia: patterns and processes. SPB Academic Publishing, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, p. 91-122.
  • Peck, S.B. Heraty, J., Landry, B. & Sinclair, B.J. (1998) Introduced insect fauna of an oceanic archipelago: The Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Am. Entomol. 44: 218-237.
  • Sinclair, B. J. (2023) An annotated checklist of the Diptera of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador). Zootaxa, 5283, 1-102
  • Sinclair, B.J. Peck, S.B. (2005) An annotated checklist of the Diptera of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador). Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished, 64 pp.

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Anastrepha fraterculus", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=5531. Accessed 28 April 2026.