Atherigona (Atherigona) reversura Villeneuve 1936

Atherigona (Atherigona) reversura Villeneuve, 1936 (Fig. 37)xxx Atherigona reversura Villeneuve, 1936: 13. Specimen examined. 1m, Asir, Maraba, Al-Hudaithy fruit farm, 1-30.v.2004, Malaise trap, H. A.Dawah. (CERS). Distribution. This species was previously recorded from Saudi Arabia by Dawah & Abdullah (2009). It was described from China. In the Middle East it is known from Oman and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (Deeming 2008; El-Hawagry et al. 2016; 2017). Biological remarks. A. reversura is a serious pest which can cause severe damage to plants. Although the larvae of A. reversura known as Bermudagrass breeds mainly in Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) which is regarded as invasive pest species in USA (Grzywacz et al. 2013; Patitucci et al. 2016), other Poaceae host plants have been listed by Pont & Magpayo (1995) such as Echinochloa colona (L.) Link, Eleusine coracana Gaertn, Eriochloa procera (Retz.), Sehima nervosum (Rottler), Sorghum bicolor and Zea mays L. Grzywacz et al. (2013) described the immature stages of A. reversura but the life cycle and the biology has yet to be researched. Since its initial introduction to the U.S.A. it has in a very short time increased its distribution from Canada to Chile and Argentina.
Published as part of Dawah, Hassan A., Abdullah, Mohammed A. & Deeming, John C., 2020, The Muscidae (Diptera) of Saudi Arabia, descriptions of two new species, new records and updated list of species, pp. 1-54 in Zootaxa 4869 (1) on page 27, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4869.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4418246
{"references":["Villeneuve, J. (1936) 52. Dipteren. 16. Muscidae. In: Schwedisch-chinesische wissenschaftliche Expedition nach den nordwestlichen Provinzen Chinas, unter Leitung von Dr. Sven Hedin und Prof. Su Ping-chang. Insekten gesammelt vom schwedischen Art der Expedition Dr. David Hummerl 1927 - 1930. Arkiv for Zoologi, Stockholm, 27 A (34), pp. 1 - 13.","Dawah, H. A. & Abdullah, M. A. (2009) The Muscidae (Diptera: Brachycera: Muscomorpha) of south-western Saudi Arabia. Fauna of Arabia, 24, 373 - 396.","Deeming, J. C. (2008) Order Diptera, family Muscidae. In: van Harten, A. (Ed.), Arthropod Fauna of the United Arab Emirates. Vol. 1. Dar Al-Ummah Printing, Publishing, Distribution & Advertising, Abu Dhabi, pp. 714 - 723.","El-Hawagry, M. S., Abdel-Dayem, M. S., Elgharbawy, A. A. & Al Dhafer, H. M. (2016) A preliminary account of the fly fauna in Jabal Shada al-A'la Nature Reserve, Saudi Arabia, with new records and biogeographical remarks (Diptera, Insecta). Zookeys, 636, 107 - 139. https: // doi. org / 10.3897 / zookeys. 636.9905","El-Hawagry, M. S., Abdel-Dayem, M. S., El-Sonbati & Al Dhafer, H. M. (2017) A preliminary account of the fly fauna in Gard Raydah Nature Reserve, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with new records and biogeographical remarks (Diptera: Insecta). Journal of Natural History, 51 (25 - 26), 1499 - 1530. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 00222933.2017.1347299","Grzywacz, A., Pape, T., Hudson, W. G. & Gomez, S. (2013) Morphology and immature stages of Atherigona reversura (Diptera: Muscidae) with notes on the recent invasion of North America. Journal of Natural History, 47 (15 - 16), 1055 - 1067. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 00222933.2012.742244","Pont, A. C. & Magpayo, F. R. (1995) Muscid shoot-flies of the Philippine Islands (Diptera: Muscidae, genus Atherigona Rondani). Bulletin of Entomological Research, Supplement Series, Supplement No. 3, 1 - 123. https: // doi. org / 10.1017 / S 1367426900000321"]}