Seventeen new species of Anastrepha, primarily from Suriname, French Guiana and Pará, Brazil, are described and illustrated: A. aithogaster Norrbom from Brazil (Pará), French Guiana, and Suriname; A. aliesae Norrbom from Suriname; A. brownsbergiensis Norrbom from Suriname; A. crassaculeus Norrbom & Rodriguez Clavijo from Colombia (Magdalena, Norte de Santander) and Suriname; A. curvivenis Norrbom from Brazil (Amazonas), Ecuador (Zamora-Chinchipe), Peru (San Martín), and Suriname; A. fuscoalata Norrbom from Brazil (Pará), French Guiana, and Suriname; A. gangadini Norrbom from Suriname; A. juxtalanceola Norrbom from Brazil (Pará) and Suriname; A. microstrepha Norrbom from Brazil (Bahia) and Suriname; A. mitaraka Norrbom from French Guiana; A. neptis Norrbom from Brazil (Pará), Ecuador (Orellana), Peru (Loreto) and Suriname; A. sobrina Norrbom from Brazil (Pará), French Guiana, and Suriname; A. surinamensis Norrbom from Suriname; A. tenebrosa Norrbom from Brazil (Pará) and Peru (Loreto); A. triangularis Norrbom from Suriname; A. wachiperi Norrbom from French Guiana and Peru (Cusco); and A. wittiensis Norrbom from Suriname. The following host plant records are reported: A. aithogaster from fruit of Parahancornia fasciculata (Poir.) Benoist (Apocynaceae); A. aliesae from fruit of Passiflora coccinea Aubl. and P. glandulosa Cav. (Passifloraceae); A. crassaculeus from fruit of an undetermined species of Pouteria (Sapotaceae); A. fuscoalata from fruit of Trymatococcus oligandrus (Benoist) Lanj. (Moraceae); A. sobrina from fruit of Eugenia lambertiana DC. (Myrtaceae); and A. wittiensis from fruit of Manilkara bidentata (A. DC.) A. Chev. (Sapotaceae).

Anastrepha is the most diverse and economically important genus of Tephritidae in the American tropics and subtropics. The striking morphology of the third instars of Anastrepha caballeroi Norrbom, Anastrepha crebra Stone, Anastrepha haplacantha Norrbom & Korytkowski, Anastrepha korytkowskii Norrbom, Anastrepha nolazcoae Norrbom & Korytkowski, and three newly discovered and as yet formally unnamed species (Anastrepha sp. Peru-82, Anastrepha sp. nr. protuberans, and Anastrepha sp. Sur-16), and the more typical morphology of Anastrepha aphelocentema Stone, are described using light and scanning electron microscopy. To contribute to a better understanding of the interspecific and intraspecific variation among species in the mucronota species group and facilitate phylogenetic studies, we integrate molecular and morphological techniques to confirm the identity and describe third instars. Larva-adult associations and the identification of described larvae were confirmed using DNA barcodes. We provide diagnostic characters to distinguish larvae among these nine species of the mucronota group and separate them from those of the 29 other Anastrepha species previously described. We introduce the vertical comb-like processes on the oral margin as a novel character, and the unusual character states, including position and shape of the preoral lobe, and dentate or fringed posterior margins of the oral ridges and accessory plates. Our comparative morphology concurs with most previously inferred phylogenetic relationships within the mucronota group.

For the years 1990–2023, we compile a list of adventive arthropods found in situations indicating establishment in Florida, as recorded by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry (FDACS-DPI) through various publications and other official media outlets. As the center for regulatory entomology in Florida with a strength for arthropod identification in the southeastern United States, FDACS-DPI collaborates with multiple regional agencies (government, university, and private) to find and recognize adventive taxa in the region. These collaborating agencies all have a common goal to respond rapidly with any regulatory or mitigative actions needed to manage newly discovered invasive pests. The list presented here contains 450 adventive species of arthropods, 291 (64.7 %) of which are new Continental United States or Western Hemisphere records, and 162 (36.0 %) of which are considered invasive pests. Hemiptera (152 species) had the most species, followed by Coleoptera (75 species), the combined mite orders (71 species), and Lepidoptera (53 species). These data are compared to other states (Hawaii and California) which also have high numbers of adventive species, noting trends in total numbers for these different regions by decade, starting in 1900. Reasons for the apparent increase of adventive species into Florida over recent decades are discussed. Each of the 450 species has a brief account containing references to the original documentation of the record, suspected region of origin, and comments on its status, hosts, or recent history in Florida. We hope these data foster further work on adventive arthropods in Florida.

Tephritid fruit flies are serious pests of Ghana’s numerous economically important fruits and vegetables. Their damages include rotting, premature ripening, and dropping of fruits, which lead to severe production losses, reduction in export volumes, trade restrictions, and other health implications when infested fruits are consumed. Due to the activities of these pests, less than 10% of fruits (especially mango) and vegetables produced are exported, and more than 60% of them end up in waste yearly. With current regulatory measures, Ghana has made significant progress in managing fruit flies, especially after the European Union (EU) ban in 2015. However, the pests remain problematic in the sub-region. A more coordinated nationwide approach and investments in postharvest treatment facilities are anticipated to help reduce pest populations, increase trading volumes and incomes, increase access to other markets, including the United States, and boost Ghana’s economy. It is estimated that for every US$1 invested in managing fruit flies, the return on investment is US$93.

We describe and illustrate for the first time the third instars of Anastrepha amplidentata Norrbom and Anastrepha durantae Norrbom from Peru. Morphological structures such as the facial mask, cephaloskeleton, and spiracles are described using optical and scanning electron microscopy. A summary of comparative measurements of larvae of the eleven previously described species within the fraterculus group is provided. We discuss morphological characters that can be used to distinguish species within the fraterculus group, such as oral ridges, accessory plates, mouthhook, prothoracic spiracles, dorsal spinules, posterior spiracles, and anal lobes.

We report the results of long-term collecting efforts conducted mainly in the western Amazon region of Peru, and in Bolivia, Ecuador, Suriname, French Guiana, and Panama. Host plant and distribution records are documented for 55 plant species associated with 40 species of Anastrepha Schiner belonging to 15 species groups or unassigned to a group. We document new host records or provide detail for records recently reported in the literature with limited information and also describe the larval feeding modes within the fruit. This contributes to a better understanding of the biology of Anastrepha, facilitates phylogenetic analysis, and develops identification tools for the genus. We provide a synopsis of native host plants by Anastrepha species groups to compare the range of host plants within these groups. We report 25 plant species as hosts for the first time for 22 Anastrepha species and new distribution records for 18 Anastrepha species. We provide photographs of the fruit injury caused by larvae of 31 Anastrepha species. We report two larval feeding modes: 23 species are pulp feeders in 21 native and four exotic host plants, 11 species are seed feeders in 12 native host plants, and four species feed on both pulp and seeds of three native host plants. We report the first host plant record, two species of Sapotaceae, for the speciosa group, which is among the most ancestral clades of Anastrepha. We present and discuss our results in evolutionary terms following the most recently inferred Anastrepha phylogeny.