Journal of Insect Behavior (2008) 21, 366-374

T. Brévault and S. Quilici (2008)
Sexual attraction, male courtship and female remating in the tomato fruit fly, Neoceratitis cyanescens
Journal of Insect Behavior 21 (5), 366-374
Abstract: Sexual attraction in the tomato fruit fly, Neoceratitis cyanescens (Bezzi) (Diptera: Tephritidae) was tested in an olfactometer while major behavioral traits during courtship at a short range were described by video recording. In addition, 30 pairs of flies were monitored for mating activity in individual cages, during a 38-day study following adult emergence. Virgin females of N. cyanescens showed a significant attraction when males were placed in the upwind section of the olfactometer. Males adopted a typical calling behavior characterized by immobility, wings perpendicular to the body axis, swollen abdominal pleura and presence of a small transparent droplet at the tip of the abdomen. In addition, a specific odor was clearly perceptible by the observer. In individual cages, the first mating of N. cyanescens females took place on the second day after emergence. Females showed a high mating propensity, with 73 ± 18% females mated daily. Sexual conflicts due to mating system and applications to pest management strategies are discussed.
(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): Thierry Brevault, S. Quilici

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

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Neoceratitis cyanescens