Abstract
Abstract The effect of age on the mating propensity of both wild and laboratory-reared Mediterranean fruit flies, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) was investigated under laboratory and field cage conditions. The optimal age for wild flies ranged from 7 to 13 days, whereas in laboratory-reared flies it was between 3 and 5 days old. Virgin flies were selective and more prone to mate than flies that were held with both sexes combined and therefore, had a chance to mate before the test. The difference among ages in laboratory-reared flies was significant only in virgin flies. Virgin females showed a tendency to increase their mating propensity as they got older, whereas virgin males showed a bimodal pattern, with peaks at 4 and 11 days old. When flies of both strains and different ages were combined, laboratory-reared females accounted for 72% of the all the matings and most matings were by 4-day-old females. Wild males accounted for 67% of all the matings and the maximum number of matings were by 10-day-old ma...
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