Phytoparasitica (1997) 25, p. 167 (Cohen et al.)

Hadass Cohen and B. Yuval (1997)
Effect of diet on foraging by young female Mediterranean fruit flies, Ceratitis capitata
Phytoparasitica 25 (2), 167-167
10th Conference of the Entomological Society of Israel, February 11, 1997, Bet Dagan, Israel, lecture
Abstract: This study focuses on the foraging behavior of young female Mediterranean fruit flies in field cages, enclosing potted orange trees, which contained patches of either sugar or protein. We determined how the pre-release diet affected the flies' preference for either resource. Flies maintained on a high concentration of sucrose (20%) showed a preference for sucrose patches at an early age of 2-3 and 4-5 days old (two-way Anova: F=7.44, P=0.01; and F=14.71, P=0.001, respectively). Older, 6-7-day-old females, on the same diet showed a slight preference for protein patches (F=7.41, P=0.024), while 8-9-day-old females showed a significant preference (F=16.97, P=0.003) for protein. When flies were maintained on a poor diet (a solution of 2% sucrose), they showed no significant preference. Females in all age groups (2-7 days old) responded similarly to sucrose and the protein patches. These results may contribute to the development of a new strategy for controlling the population of young medflies, by exploiting the influence of sucrose on their foraging behavior.
Database assignments for author(s): Boaz Yuval, Hadass Cohen

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