Journal of Economic Entomology (2008) 101, 866-872

Dimitrios P. Papachristos, Nikos T. Papadopoulos and George D. Nanos (2008)
Survival and development of immature stages of the Mediterranean fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) in citrus fruit
Journal of Economic Entomology 101 (3), 866-872
Abstract: We studied, under laboratory conditions, the performance of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae), immature stages in intact whole fruit of three sweet orange varieties, lemon, and bitter oranges. Both citrus variety and fruit part (flavedo, albedo, and pulp) had strong effects on larval performance, smaller effects on pupae, and no effects on eggs. Fruit peel was the most critical parameter for larval development and survival, drastically affecting larval survival (inducing very high mortality rates). Among fruit regions, survival of larvae placed in flavedo was zero for all varieties tested except for bitter orange (22.5% survival), whereas survival in albedo was very low (9.8-17.4%) for all varieties except for bitter orange (76%). Survival of pupae obtained from larvae placed in the above-mentioned fruit regions was high for all varieties tested (81.1-90.7%). Fruit pulp of all citrus fruit tested was favorable for larval development. The highest survival was observed on bitter oranges, but the shortest developmental times and heaviest pupae were obtained from orange cultivars. Pulp chemical properties, such as soluble solid contents, acidity, and pH had rather small effects on larval and pupal survival and developmental time (except for juice pH on larvae developmental duration), but they had significant effects on pupal weight.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Dimitrios P. Papachristos, Nikos T. Papadopoulos

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ceratitis capitata	Citrus (genus)