Las moscas de la fruta del género Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae)

With 328 described species, the genus Anastrepha is the most diverse of the native Tephritidae of the Americas and its species are considered pests of great economic importance in the neotropical region. Their economic importance lies in the serious damage they cause to commercial fruits. Likewise, their presence in fruit exporting countries generates strong quarantine restrictions. This genus includes the most important fruit fly species in the Neotropics, such as the Mexican fruit fly Anastrepha ludens (Loew), the mango fruit fly Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart), the South American fruit fly Anastrepha fraterculus complex and the papaya fruit fly Anastrepha curvicauda (Gerstaecker), which affect important commercial crops. In Colombia, thanks to the diversity of climates in the country, fruit growing occupies a very important sector in agriculture. Many of the major threats to this industry are members of the genus Anastrepha in which infest commercial fruits such as mango, guava, passion fruit, gulupa, granadilla, papaya, blackberry, feijoa, plum, guanabana, guama, sapote, carambola, and even fruits and stems of cassava. Taxonomically, the genus Anastrepha is in the order Diptera, superfamily Tephritoidea, family Tephritidae, subfamily Trypetinae, tribe Toxotrypanini. The species of Anastrepha have a neotropical distribution with a great diversity in South America; 95 species have been recorded in Colombia, which represents 29% of the total number of species described in the genus, second only to Brazil with 121 species (37% of genus). Host plants are known for 148 species of the 328 described species; these records include 494 species of host plants belonging to 63 plant families. The typical biology of fruit flies is as follows: females deposit their eggs in the epicarp or mesocarp of the fruit or in some cases in the seeds; the larvae emerge and begin feeding in the fruit pulp or seeds; once they have reached maturity, the larvae leave the fruit to pass the pupal stage on the ground, or sometimes they remain in the decaying fruit. For the control of fruit flies, important large-scale integrated management programs have been developed, using various methods such as traps using sexual or food attractants for population monitoring, spraying of toxic baits, the use of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) and biological control, among others.