Effect of age and mating on pheromone production in the female olive fruit fly, Dacus oleae (Gmel.)

Abstract

Virgin female olive fruit flies began producing sex pheromone on the third day after emergence. Production of sex pheromone appears to be cyclical with peaks of production recurring at about 10-day intervals, each peak lasting 2–3 days. As the female ages, the quantity of sex pheromone produced during the period of high pheromone production decreases, but it is always higher than the quantity present in the pheromone gland during the rest of female life. Mated females produced less sex pheromone the first 10 days after mating which then increased to near the same level of that in virgin females.