Olive Fruit Fly - Morphology

Morphology

The egg is around 0.7 to 1.2 mm long, elongated, and slightly flattened in its stomach, with a small, white microfleece nodule, which is important for the respiration of the embryo.

The larva is Caecilian and has a conical-cylindrical, narrow front. It develops through three stages (larva, first, second and third stage). The mature larva is 6–7 mm long, white-yellowish in colour, elongated, and subconical. The front sensors are bipolar and the second conic feature, the rear sensor, has eight sensilla. The cephalopharyngeal skeleton has very short dorsal and ventral apodemes, the hypostomal scleritis is triangular. It lacks a subhypostomal and the jaws are hooked. The oral lobes have 10–12 indents, preceded on each side by a sensory plate similar to the larva of the Ceratitis capitata. The frontal stigmas have 9–10 lobes. The three larval stages can be distinguished in different ways by their cephalopharyngeal structures. The different shapes of the frontal stigmas allow determination of the larvae of the second and third stages, while the larva at its first stage is metapneustic, equipped with one pair of posterior stigmas.

The pupal stage takes place inside the puparium, an elliptical shell formed by the last exuvial transformation of the larva. The puparium is 3.5 to 4.5 mm long, varying in colour from creamy white to yellow-brown, when it is dry. The change in colour of the puparium can determine the age of the pupa.

Adults are 4–5 mm long. In Italy, they are easily recognized in conjunction with other Tefritidae for the small dark spot at the apex of the wing and the length of the narrow, elongated anal cell.

The adult male has a hardened wing at the top of the anal cell, which is longer than the female's. The third urite shows the pectorals.

The adult female has a yellowish head with two strong circular spots under the antennae close to the compound eyes, whilst the eyes are bluish-green. The chest can show various specks instead of the typical bands and lines. The mesonotum is bluish-gray with three blackish longitudinal lines. The humeral callus and areas mesopleurali, metapleurali, and mesoscutello are ivory. The wings are hyaline, with part of the pterostigma with brown specks at the apex. The abdomen is light brown with variable colourings: typically there are pairs of blackish spots on the first to fourth urotergit, which often come together in bands. The ovipositor is clearly visible, partly invaginated in the seventh urite, which is always black. The length is 4–5 mm.

In the Asian variety, the whole body of the mesonotum is yellowish with strong, visible dark lines.