Response of Apple Maggot and Cherry Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) to Color and Contrast Cues from Small Deposits

Abstract

Rhagoletis fruit flies are strongly attracted to relatively large yellow surfaces that act as leaf mimics. Our objective was to determine whether apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh), and cherry fruit fly, R. cingulata (Loew), (Diptera: Tephritidae) are more attracted to small yellow deposits than other colors, and whether contrast with the background modifies the response to deposit color. The experimental setup consisted of Petri dish arenas with sucrose deposits on the inside surface of the cover or the bottom. Female flies were introduced individually into the arena, and flies were either observed for 5 min or until they touched the sucrose with their labellum. Initially, translucent-colored deposits were produced by drawing a colored dot outside the cover of the same size as a sucrose deposit placed inside. In later trials, sucrose deposits contained pigment and wax emulsion and were opaque. More apple maggot flies found translucent yellow deposits than black, red or clear. When opaque deposits...