''Procecidochares alani'' is a species of

tephritid The Tephritidae are one of two fly families referred to as fruit flies, the other family being the Drosophilidae. The family Tephritidae does not include the biological model organisms of the genus ''Drosophila'' (in the family Drosophilidae), ...

or fruit flies in the genus ''

Procecidochares Procecidochares is a genus of tephritid or fruit flies in the family Tephritidae. Species *''Procecidochares alani'' Steyskal, 1974 *''Procecidochares anthracina'' ( Doane, 1899) *''Procecidochares atra'' ( Loew, 1862) *'' Procecidochares aust ...

''.

Distribution

The species is native to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Specimens have been introduced to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

as a biocontrol agent against ''

Ageratina riparia ''Ageratina riparia'', commonly known as mistflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to Mexico. The species is widely adventive and has spread to Cuba, Jamaica, and other parts of the Caribbean. It has also bee ...

''. Larve of ''P. alani'' feed on the inside of the invasive plant, and cause stem

galls Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to be ...

to form, impeding growth. ''P. alani'' was first introduced to Australia in 1987 as a biocontrol agent, but had limited success as it was soon effected by native parasitoid wasps.

References

Insects described in 1974 Diptera of North America

alani The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern ...

Insects used for control of invasive plants {{tephritinae-stub