Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Lonicera fly

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Class
  
Insecta

Family
  
Tephritidae

Rank
  
Species

Phylum
  
Arthropoda

Order
  
Diptera

Genus
  
Rhagoletis

Scientific name
  
Rhagoletis mendax × zephyria

Similar
  
Rhagoletis zephyria, Rhagoletis mendax, Rhagoletis, Apple maggot, Wholphin

The Lonicera fly, a hybrid in the genus Rhagoletis, is a North American fruit fly of the family Tephritidae. Its larvae feed on the berries of species of introduced honeysuckle (Lonicera) that were brought to America within the last 250 years as ornamental plants. A research team led by Dietmar Schwarz has argued that it most likely developed within that time by hybridization of two other species: R. mendax, the blueberry maggot, and R. zephyria, the snowberry maggot. Few cases of animal species arising from hybridization are known (see pomarine skua or Mariana mallard), although with DNA analysis more are being found.

References

Lonicera fly Wikipedia