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Several of the native North
American picture-winged flies in the family
Ulidiidae are often confused with fruit flies in
the family Tephritidae. While the females of
most species of Tephritidae oviposit in living,
healthy plant tissue and their larvae live and
feed in various parts of the plant, the larvae
of most species of Ulidiidae are saprophagous.
That is, they feed on dead and decaying organic
materials. There are approximately 127 species
of Ulidiidae in North
America.
However, a few, such as Tritoxa flexa and
Tetanops myopaeformis (Röder), attack living
plant tissue. One of the picture-winged flies
most often mistaken for a true fruit fly, some
of which are important pests of citrus and other
fruit, is Delphinia picta (Fabricius). Although
the larvae of this fly have been collected from
fallen ripe plums, well decayed, D. picta larvae
do not attack fresh, healthy fruit. |
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