Hello! I'm a PhD Biologist at the University of Notre Dame studying the evolutionary history of fruit flies belonging to the genus Rhagoletis. In the case of specialized herbivorous insects, the host plant that the insect inhabits represents the environment that they must adapt to (ie. most insects spend their entire life cycle on their host plant - mating, feeding, laying eggs and developing). My focus is on members of the Rhagoletis tabellaria complex that is comprised of four known fly species: 1) R. bushi, 2) R. tabellaria, 3) R. persimilis and 4) R. electromorpha (More info can be found in Hulbert et al. 2018). Unlike other species of Rhagoletis that infest fruits of agricultural and economical interest (ie. apples, hawthorns, blueberries, cherries & walnuts), members of tabellaria primarily infest dogwoods. Little is known about the genetic diversity of tabellaria, nor is their infestation rate, adult emergence rates or parasitism rates well known. As part of my PhD, I hope to resolve some of these uncertainties, as well as to provide a hardy sampling of tabellaria throughout their geographical ranges of each host plant so that genetic patterns of tabellaria can be used to 1) infer the evolutionary history among Rhagoletis species, 2) better understand the role of host plant in driving evolution, 3) learn more about natural enemy parasitoids and parasitism rates

Before I can begin my population level genetic analysis of the flies, I must first rear the flies. To do so, I need to identify potential collection sites for each of the different host plant species the flies infest - which brings me to iNaturalist! I will be sorting through the scientific literature and searching iNaturalist posts for confirmed species occurrences. My goal is to collect approximately 2,000-4,000 fruits from each site (ie. city, county, park), in hopes of rearing about 30 adult flies from each site for the genetic analysis. For optimal chances of rearing flies, fruits should be collected when ripe, but not too mushy. It is also ideal to avoid areas immediately along water as saturated and flooded soils can kill flies that may be developing in the soil.

The plant species I am looking for are:
1.) Cornus stolonifera (AKA. C. sericea), common names = red osier dogwood, redstem dogwood, creek dogwood - rears R. tabellaria
2.) Cornus racemosa, common name = gray dogwood - rears R. electromorpha
3.) Cornus drummondii, common name = rough leaf dogwood - rears R. electromorpha
4.) Cornus foemina, common name = stiff dogwood - rears R. electromorpha
5.) Shephredia argentea, common names = silver buffaloberry, bull berry, or thorny buffaloberry - rears R. bushi
6.) Prosartes hookeri, common names = Fairy Bells, Hooker’s Fairy Bell, Drops of Gold - rears R. persimilis

Please send me a message if you are interested in helping!

The type of information that would be REALLY HELPFUL for me are:
1.) Let me know when the fruits appear to be ripe
2.) Let me know how many fruits are present on a scale of 0-10 (0=none, 10=thousands of fruits present)
3.) If I could collect fruits from the site you listed/found (ie. Is it on private property or in a state park?)

Thanks a ton iNaturalist community!