Incongruence between molecules and morphology: A seven-gene phylogeny of Dacini fruit flies paves the way for reclassification (Diptera: Tephritidae)

A global checklist of the 932 fruit fly species in the tribe Dacini (Diptera, Tephritidae)

“…The largest and most intesively studied is the Bactrocera dorsalis complex with 88 species; the group that, incidentally, also holds the largest number of pest species. This complex, like most others, is not monophyletic (Leblanc et al 2015b, Virgilio et al 2015, San Jose et al 2018 in press) and there has been synonymy of several significant pest species, such as B. papayae Drew & Hancock, 1994, and B. invadens Drew, Tsuruta & White, 2005 with B. dorsalis (San Jose et al 2013, Schutze et al 2015a, 2015b). To facilitate communication and progress of our understanding of the group, a reliable taxonomic starting point is badly needed and will enable further studies into the taxonomy and systematics of the tribe.…”

“…It should also be noted that some authors do not follow the elevation of Zeugodacus to genus-level, because this is currently only supported by molecular data and morphological studies are inconclusive (David et al 2017, Virgilio et al 2015, San Jose et al 2018). This affects the placement of nearly 200 species and although we agree that the re-assignment of species may have initially been premature, recent studies corroborate the need to recognize Zeugodacus as a genus to maintain Bactrocera as monophyletic.…”

“…This affects the placement of nearly 200 species and although we agree that the re-assignment of species may have initially been premature, recent studies corroborate the need to recognize Zeugodacus as a genus to maintain Bactrocera as monophyletic. A 168-species seven-gene phylogeny, including multiple Bactrocera subgenera, shows that Zeugodacus , Bactrocera and Dacus each are monophyletic, and provides moderate statistical support for a sister relationship between Zeugodacus and Dacus (San Jose et al 2018). A phylogeny with less representatives from Dacini, but 878 molecular loci, provides full statistical support for the sister relationship of Zeugodacus with Dacus , and Bactrocera as sister to both (Dupuis et al 2017).…”

“…Early molecular phylogenetic studies focused on pest species, often of a particular region, leading to biased results on the relationships between species that may not accurately reflect monophyletic origins or sister-group assignments (Smith et al 2003, Nakahara and Muraji 2008, Virgilio et al 2015). With phylogenetic studies expanding their scope beyond the pest species and increased use of molecular data, it became clear that the initial morphology-based classifications had to be revised and, in particular, the large genus Bactrocera had to be split into Bactrocera and Zeugodacus because the latter is more closely related to Dacus (Krosch et al 2012, Virgilio et al 2015, San Jose et al 2018 in press, Dupuis et al 2017). Following the most recent results, there are currently four genera in Dacini: Monacrostichus Bezzi, Dacus Fabricius, Bactrocera Macquart and Zeugodacus Hendel (De Meyer et al 2015, Virgilio et al 2015, Freidberg et al 2017), although some authors (e.g., Drew and Romig 2013, 2016, Hancock and Drew 2016) continue to include Zeugodacus within Bactrocera .…”

“…By publishing this list in paper and digital format we hope to provide a resource for those studying fruit fly taxonomy as well as researchers concerned with their impacts on agriculture. The list is largely a consolidation of previous works, but following the results from recent phylogenetic work (Virgilio et al 2015, San Jose et al 2018 in press), we transfer one subgenus and eight species to different genera: Bactrocera subgenus Javadacus Hardy, considered to belong to the Zeugodacus group of subgenera by Hancock and Drew (2017), is transferred to genus Zeugodacus ; Bactrocera pseudocucurbitae White, 1999, stat. rev., is transferred back to Bactrocera from Zeugodacus ; Zeugodacus arisanicus Shiraki, 1933, stat.…”