During survey studies conducted in Himachal Pradesh, a new fruit fly species, earlier confused with Bactrocera nigrofemoralis, was found by researchers of Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry in Nauni.
The discovery was made during the doctoral research of Maneesh Pal Singh, who was working under the guidance of Divender Gupta, Professor and Head of the Department of Entomology. After consultation with UK-based fruit fly taxonomy expert David Lawrence Hancock, the species was characterized and named as Bactrocera divenderi.
This species is mainly prevalent in mid hills -- parts of Solan, Sirmaur, Mandi, Shimla and Kangra districts -- of the state, infesting peaches and nectarines.
Source: news.webindia123.com