Euphranta siruvani’

Context: A new species of fruit fly discovered from Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu is named after Siruvani, an ecological hotspot in the Western Ghats.

• The fruit fly ‘Euphranta siruvani’ belonging to family Tephritidae was identified by researchers from a non-forest area near Siruvani and the discovery has been published in the Zootaxa journal.

• 104 known species from genus Euphranta are distributed across the world, of which 14 are found in India.
• The discovery of Euphranta siruvani is the new addition to the list.
• This fruit fly is differentiated from the other species of Euphranta by the presence of a ‘V’ shaped black band on the wing and prominent subapical band connected to the apical black patch.
• It lays eggs in fruits and the larvae feed on the pulp.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/new-species-of-fruit-fly-from-india-named-after-siruvani-in-western-ghats/article33536294.ece