Seasonal Population Fluctuations and Ecological Implications for Management of Anastrepha Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Commercial Mango Orchards in Southern Mexico

Abstract

We report the results of a large scale (5 orchards) and long-term (5 yr) study on seasonal population fluctuationsof Anastrepha fruit flies in commercial mango orchards in the Soconusco Region, Chiapas, Mexico. Out of 10 Anastrepha species present in these orchards, West Indian fruit fly, A. obliqua (Macquart), and Mexican fruit fly, A ludens (Loew), accounted for 96.6% of all individuals captured in McPhail traps. A obliqua was by far the dominant species, accounting for 66.1% of all individuals captured. Anastrepha populations fluctuated markedly from year to year during our study. Furthermore, even though we worked in orchards that were relatively close to each other, we discovered significant differences in terms of total numbers of flies captured per orchard and Anastrepha species diversity in each orchard. Most flies (62.3%) were captured in traps placed in the periphery of orchards (i.e., edge traps). Also, most (≈90%) of the mangoes sampled in commercial orchards were infested by A. obliqua , despite the fact that significant numbers of A ludens adults were present in every orchard. In contrast, mangoes sampled at higher elevations were predominantly infested by A. ludens . We compare our results with similar studies in other parts of Mexico and Latin America and discuss our findings in light of their practical implications.