Ecological niches and potential geographical distributions of Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata) and Natal fruit fly (Ceratitis rosa)

Fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) are globally distributed picture-winged flies of variable size. Tephritidae, with > 4000 species described, ranks among the most diverse groups of true flies (White & Elson-Harris, 1992; Thompson, 1999). They are almost all phytophagous, with larvae developing in the seedbearing organs of plants. Although they are commonly named ‘fruit flies’, larval development can take place in other parts of host plants as well as fruits, including flowers and stems. About 35% of fruit fly species attack soft fruits, including many commercially important ones (White & Elson-Harris, 1992). Several representatives of this family are of critical importance as pests of fruit crops (Thompson, 1999). Economic Royal Museum for Central Africa, Entomology Section, Tervuren, B-3080 Tervuren, Belgium, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa, Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA and United States Department of Agriculture, APHIS, Pretoria 0001, South Africa