Apple Faggot
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Diptera Family: Tephritidae Genus: Rhagoletis Species: R. pomonella
Binomial name
Rhagoletis pomonella Walsh, 1867

The apple faggot (Rhagoletis pomonella), also known as railroad worm, is a pest of several fruits, mainly apples. The adult form of this insect is about 3/16 of an inch long, slightly smaller than a house fly, with a white dot on its thorax and a characteristic black banding shaped like and "F" on its wings. The larva, which is the stage of this insect's life cycle that causes the actual damage to the fruit, is similar to a typical fly larva or maggot. Other "worms" inside apples can be confused with the apple maggot, however caterpillars often feed in the apple’s core while apple maggots feed on the fruit flesh. In infested fruit, the larvae are often difficult to detect due to their pale, cream colour and small body size. The maggot stage has many enemies, including several braconid wasps: Utetes canaliculatus, Diachasmimorpha mellea, and Diachasma alloeum. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 352 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (725 × 1233 pixel, file size: 328 KB, MIME type: image/png) From U.S.D.A. [1] A: Female fly B: Eggs removed from apple C: Egg punctures in skin of apple D: Eggs... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - spiders,scorpions, etc. ... Orders See taxonomy Insects (Class Insecta) are a major group of arthropods and the most diverse group of animals on the Earth, with over a million described species—more than all other animal groups combined. ... Suborders Nematocera (includes Eudiptera) Brachycera Diptera (di - two, ptera - wings), or true flies, is the order of insects possessing only a single pair of wings on the mesothorax; the metathorax bears a pair of drumstick like structures called the halteres, the remnants of the hind wings. ... Genera 500 genera & about 5,000 species Tephritidae is a family of insects that includes fruit flies. ... Diversity ca. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Benjamin Dann Walsh (1808 - 1869) was an American entomologist. ... Cunt BAg Twat Fuk suck my penis ring 0778851865!!!!!!Year 1867 (MDCCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Fruit (disambiguation). ... This article is about the satellite APPLE. For the fruit apple, see Apple. ... This article is about insect larvae. ... Subfamilies Adeliinae Agathidinae Alysiinae Amicrocentrinae Aphidiinae Apozyginae Betylobraconinae Blacinae Braconinae Cardiochilinae Cenocoeliinae Cheloninae Dirrhopinae Doryctinae Ecnomiinae Euphorinae Exothecinae Gnamptodontinae Helconinae Histeromerinae Homolobinae Hormiinae Khoikhoiiinae Ichneutinae Macrocentrinae Masoninae Mendesellinae Mesostoinae Meteorideinae Meteorinae Microgastrinae Microtypinae Miracinae Neoneurinae Opiinae Orgilinae Pselaphaninae Rhyssalinae Rogadinae Sigalphinae Telengaiinae Trachypetinae Vaepellinae Ypsistocerinae Xiphozelinae Wikispecies has information related... Diachasmimorpha mellea is a parasitoid of Rhagoletis pomonella, the apple maggot fly. ... Binomial name Diachasma alloeum Muesebeck, 1956 Diachasma alloeum is a small wasp in the family Braconidae. ...

The adult stage lays its eggs inside the fruit; before the arrival of apples from Europe, it was found mainly in hawthorns. The young "worm" that hatches consumes the fruit (rarely will the larva leave the fruit while it is still hanging on the tree), and causes it to bruise and decay and finally drop before ripening. The insect overwinters as a pupa in the soil. It only emerges after metamorphosis into a relatively defenseless fly. It uses batesian mimicry as a method of defense - its coloration ressembles to the forelegs and pedipalps of a jumping spider (family Salticidae).^[1] Adults emerge from late June through September, with their peak flight occurring in August. In most birds and reptiles, an egg (Latin ovum) is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... Species See text Crataegus (Hawthorn) is a large genus of in the family Rosaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia and North America. ... A Pieris rapae larva An older Pieris rapae larva A Pieris rapae pupa A Pieris rapae adult Metamorphosis is a process in biology by which an individual physically develops after birth or hatching, and involves significant change in form as well as growth and differentiation. ... For other uses, see Mimic (disambiguation). ... Diversity 553 genera, 5025 species Genera See List of Salticidae genera The jumping spiders (family Salticidae) contains more than 500 described genera and over 5,000 species, making it the largest family of spiders with about 13% of all species. ... Genera Bagheera Corythalia Eris Freya Ghelna Habronattus Hentzia Lyssomanes Maevia Marpissa Messua Metacyrba Naphrys Paramarpissa Paraphidippus Phidippus Portia Salticus Sarinda Sassacus Sitticus Synemosyna Thiodina Zygoballus and many others The jumping spiders (Salticidae) are a family of spiders containing more than 4,000 species. ...

Evolution

Rhagoletis pomonella is significant evolutionarily in that the race of this species that feeds on apples spontaneously emerged from the hawthorn feeding race in the 1800 - 1850 AD time frame after apples were introduced into North America. The apple feeding race does not now normally feed on hawthorns and the hawthorn feeding race does not now normally feed on apples. This constitutes a possible example of an early step towards the emergence of a new species by the mechanism of sympatric speciation.^[1] Species See text Crataegus (Hawthorn) is a large genus of in the family Rosaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia and North America. ... Comparison of allopatric, peripatric, parapatric and sympatric speciation. ...

External links

• Popular Account
• Ohio State University Fact Sheet
• Apple Maggot Fly Traps - Ladd Research

Notes and References

1. ^  Reference for emergence of new race of apple maggot flies [2]

1. ^ Ricklefs, Robert E. and Gary L. Miller (2000). Ecology. W.H. Freeman and Company.