PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH. 91(2), 1989, pp. 164-168 HOST PLANTS OF NEASPILOTA IN CALIFORNIA (DIPTERA: TEPHRITIDAE) Richard D. Goeden Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, California 92521. Abstract.— Ne^^ host-plant records from California are reported for the tephritids, Nea-spilota achillcac Johnson, A', aenigiua Freidberg and Mathis, N. albiseta Freidberg and Mathis, N. appendiculata Freidberg and Mathis, A^. callistigma Freidberg and Mathis, N. stecki Freidberg and Mathis. and A', viridcscens Quisenberry. Neaspilota stecki is initially reported from California. The host plants of these tephritids are mainly in the tribe Astereae of Asteraceae, although A^. achilleae was reared for the first time from the western United States and from capitula ofStephanomeria virgata Bentham in the tribe Cichoreae. Besides new records from 1 3 species in six genera of Astereae for A', viridescens, another record for this tephritid from Lepidospartum squamatum (Gray) Gray is the first from the tribe Senecioneae for any Neaspilota. Key W 'ords: Diptera. Tephritidae, host plants, Neaspilota, subgenus Neorellia, Asteraceae Recent revision of the genus Neaspilota (Diptera: Tephritidae) by Freidberg and Mathis (1986) facilitated determination of specimens that I had reared from capitula of California Asteraceae (= Compositae) and enabled this report on the host-plant rela-tions of this taxon. I hereby respond to their concern that ". . . Confirmed rearing rec-ords are especially scarce from western United States, where half of the known species of Neaspilota occur." Materials and Methods Host-plant information on Neaspilota was obtained since 1980 mainly in southern California, an ecologically diverse region that is defined and treated botanically by Munz (1974) and encompasses roughly the southern third of the State. The materials and methods used in sampling mature ca-pitula and rearing Tephritidae from sam-ples were described by Goeden (1985). Sweep-net collections supplemented rear-ings. Flies were identified with keys by Freidberg and Mathis ( 1986). Selected spec-imens were confirmed by F. L. Blanc. Cal-ifornia Department of Food and Agriculture Sacramento, and by A. Freidberg, Tel-Aviv University, Israel. All host-plant identifi-cations were confirmed by A. C. Sanders, Curator of the Herbarium of the University of California, Riverside. Plant names follow Munz and Keck (1959) and Munz (1974). Results and Discussion Freidberg and Mathis (1986) reviewed the sparse information available on the natural histor>' and host plants of Neaspilota. All known species develop in flower or seed heads of Asteraceae without forming galls. I offer the following information on the host plants of Neaspilota species in California. Neaspilota achilleae Johnson. — This species was reared from three separate sam-ples of capitula of Stephanomena virgata Bentham collected in southern San Diego County as follows: 2 S and 2 9, SE of Barrett Junction, 8-X-1987; 7 3 and 6 9, Bratton
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