Silba septuosa Mcalpine, 1964 (Diptera: Lonchaeidae) Breeding in papaya fruit in Eastern Australia, with a Revised checklist of the Australian Silba species

Abstract

• A total of 222 lonchaeid flies were reared from four samples of ripe papaya collected at Yamba (-29.442° 153.364°) in eastern Australia during October and November 2021, during work on a tephritid fruit fly. The lonchaeids were identified as Silba septuosa McAlpine, a little-known species represented by just a few identified specimens in collections and three host records, only recorded previously from Queensland and the Northern Territory and never reared from papaya. A reassessment of the identity of a lonchaeid fly attacking Panama passionfruit in far north Queensland near Kuranda 20 years earlier revealed the same species was responsible. This paper discusses aspects of the behaviour and host use of this fly in relation to other Silba Macquart and Neosilba McAlpine species, as well as their association with tephritid species. A revised checklist of Australian Silba species is provided and the need for more taxonomic work including molecular genetics on Australian lonchaeid species is highlighted, in part to be prepared for any incursions of exotic species that are considered of economic importance.