''Urophora affinis'' is a species of tephritid or fruit flies in the genus '' Urophora'' of the family

Tephritidae 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 ''Drosophila'' () is a ge ...

. It has been released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and Canada as a biocontrol agent to control

spotted knapweed ''Centaurea stoebe'', the spotted knapweed or panicled knapweed, is a species of '' Centaurea'' native to eastern Europe, although it has spread to North America, where it is considered an invasive species. It forms a tumbleweed, helping to incre ...

. ''U. affinis'' became established in Montana in 1973.

Life history

''U. affinis'' is multivoltine and overwinters as a larva in knapweed flower heads. In June, adults oviposit on seed heads. Each female can produce about 120 eggs. It has been shown to reduce seed production in knapweed (spotted and diffuse) by up to 95% Harris P. 1980. Effects of Urophora affinis Frfld, and U. quadrifasciata (Meig.) (Diptera: Tephritidae) on ''Centaurea diffusa'' Lam. and ''C. maculosa'' Lam. (Compositae). Zeitschrift fur Angewandte Entomologie 90:190-201. but that is insufficient for effective management of either species.Powell RD. (1990) The functional forms of density-dependent birth and death rates in diffuse knapweed (Centaurea diffusa) explain why it has not been controlled by ''Urophora affinis'', ''U. quadrifasciata'' and ''Sphenoptera jugoslavica''. In: Delfosse ES, editor. Proceedings VII International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds 6–11 March 1988, Rome, Italy. Instituto Sperimentale per la Patologia Vegetale (MAF). pp 195-202. Overwintering ''Urophora'' larvae are heavily preyed upon by deer mice ''

Peromyscus maniculatus ''Peromyscus maniculatus'' is a rodent native to eastern North America. It is most commonly called the eastern deer mouse; when formerly grouped with the western deer mouse (''P. sonoriensis''), it was referred to as the North American deermous ...

''. The inability of ''Urophora'' species to control knapweed led to the introduction of other biocontrol agents, including the weevils ''

Larinus minutus ''Larinus minutus'' is a species of true weevil known as the lesser knapweed flower weevil. It is used as an agent of biological pest control against noxious knapweeds, especially diffuse knapweed (''Centaurea diffusa'') and spotted knapweed. T ...

'' and ''

Bangasternus fausti ''Bangasternus fausti'' is a species of true weevil known as the broad-nosed seed head weevil. It is used as an agent of biological pest control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, w ...

'', which also attack seed heads of knanpweed. In cage experiments, larvae of ''Larinus minutus'' and ''Bangasternus fausti'' have been shown to consume the developing ''U. affinis''. Reproduction of ''U. affinis'' was reduced by ''L. minutus''.

Distribution

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East to

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& southwest

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; introduced to North America

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urophora Affinis Urophora Insects described in 1857 Taxa named by Georg Ritter von Frauenfeld Diptera of Europe