Associative learning in wild Anastrepha obliqua females (Diptera, Tephritidae) related to a protein source

Carla Cresoni-Pereira,Fernando Sérgio Zucoloto

doi:10.1590/s0073-47212006000100008

Carla Cresoni-Pereira, Fernando Sérgio Zucoloto

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s0073-47212006000100008

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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine whether wild adult Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart, 1835) females are able to associate a compound (quinine sulphate - QS) not related to their habitual diet with a protein-enriched food. Females were first fed on diets based on brewer yeast and sucrose containing or not QS. The groups were then allowed to choose between their original diets and a diet with or without QS, depending on the previous treatment, and between a diet based on agar and a diet containing agar and QS. When the nutritional value of the diets was adequate, the females did not show any preference for the diet with or without QS. With respect to the agar diet and the agar + QS diet, females previously fed on a nutritive diet containing QS preferred the diet containing QS, indicating an association between the compound and the nutritional value of the diet. The importance of this behavioral strategy is discussed.

Highlights

The aim of the present study was to determine whether wild adult Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart, 1835) females are able to associate a compound not related to their habitual diet with a protein-enriched food
Insects display a wide range of stereotypic behaviors and other variables depending on the ecology of the species (HSIAO, 1985)
Many phytophagous insects select different nutrients in their diets that might act as phagostimulants (BERNAYS, 1995)

Summary

Introduction

The aim of the present study was to determine whether wild adult Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart, 1835) females are able to associate a compound (quinine sulphate - QS) not related to their habitual diet with a protein-enriched food. Non-nutritive compounds with a characteristic odor or taste are commonly selected to act as signaling substances for these insects (PROKOPY et al, 1996) These phagostimulants or signaling compounds are involved in a variety of processes which lead to significant differences in the acceptability of or preference for certain diets. Associative learning can result in a change in feeding preferences if the taste of a diet is associated with satisfactory post-ingestion effects in such a way that the taste acquires a neural interpretation of adequate food (BERNAYS & WEISS, 1996) This type of process has been demonstrated for Locusta migratoria (Linnaeus, 1758) (Orthoptera, Acrididae) (SIMPSON & WHITE, 1990) and Exorista mella (Walker, 1859) (Diptera, Tachinidae) (STIREMAN, 2002). Several lines of evidence suggest that learning, as well as other aspects of behavior, has evolved in response to specific problems of a species in its particular niche in such a way that it cannot be defined as a phenotypic trait of different populations of the same species occupying different niches (HEALY, 1992)

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