Comparison of Aggregation and Feeding Responses by Normal and Irradiated Fruit Flies, Ceratitis capitata and Anastrepha suspenso (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Abstract

Olfactory, aggregatory, and feeding responses of normal (untreated) laboratory stocks of Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), and of Caribbean fruit fly (caribfly). Anastrepha suspensa (Loew), were compared to those of flies irradiated (10 had in air) 2 days before eclosion. Females of both species consumed greater quantities of protein hydrolysate solutions, entered protein hydrolysate-baited olfactory traps, and aggregated on agar plates containing protein hydrolysate in greater numbers than males of the same age and condition. However, male medflies consumed more sucrose than did females of the same age and condition. In the medfly, irradiation resulted in reduced olfactory response, reduced total food intake by flies of both sexes, and a significant reduction in aggregation on and intake of protein hydrolysate by females and of sugar consumption by males. In the irradiated caribfly, there was a significant reduction in olfactory response of females to yeast hydrolysate. In both sexes, aggregation on and consumption of yeast hydrolysate were reduced. Effects of irradiation on feeding behavior are discussed in relation to the biology of the flies and their control by the sterile insect release method.