Cultivated and wild host plants associated with fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in three ecological zones of Togo

Abstract

Fruit flies are a major constraint on the production and marketing of fruits and vegetables in Togo. It is important to master the bioecology of fruits flies before setting up a method for managing their populations effectively, sustainably, at low cost and with regard for environment health. In this context, this study was carried out to evaluate interaction between fruit flies and their respective host plants. Fruits and vegetables were sampled in 2019 in ecological zones III, IV and V in Togo. Fruits and vegetables incubation allowed to identify 15 host plants associated with 8 species of fruit flies belonging to the genera Bactrocera, Ceratitis, Dacus and Zeugodacus. Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) and Ceratitis cosyra (Walker) were the most abundant with respectively 47.51 and 46.03% of the 6858 flies recovered. The infestation rate of the mango by B. dorsalis ranged from 1.93 to 70.83 flies/kg of fruit. Among the 7 host plants associated with B. dorsalis, the mango was the most infested cultivated fruit and the African apple the most infested wild fruit (F = 3.077, df = 6, p = 0.008). This study expands the available database on the interactions between fruit flies and their hosts in Togo.