The rose eye color mutation is described in Anastrepha sp.1 aff. fraterculus. It changes the color of the wild-type eyes from reddish with a blue-green iridescence to yellow-orange with a rosy iridescence. The wild-type and rose phenotypes are distinguishable in dried individuals at least 2–3 wk after death. Rose is transmitted as a recessive autosomal mutation. Disruption of the ommatidial pattern was observed as an alignment irregularity and enlargement of some individual ommatidia. Mutant individuals have reduced fitness relative to the wild-type. The rose mutation, the first one described in Anastrepha, has potential use in release-recapture studies and as a marker for mass-reared flies.