Species‐, age‐, and sex‐specific susceptibility of Mediterranean fruit flies, oriental fruit flies, and melon flies to carbon dioxide

Abstract

Abstract The 3 tephritids in Hawaii of economic importance, namely the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratltls capltata (Wiedemann), the oriental fruit fly, Dacus dorsalis Hendel, and the melon fly, D. cucurbitae Coquillett, showed marked differences in species‐, age‐, and sex‐specific susceptibilities to CO2 anesthetization. Mortalities for medflies exposed to CO2 increased more with time than did mortalities for the other 2 species. Older medflies and oriental fruit flies were more susceptible to CO2 exposure than were younger flies. Female medflies and oriental fruit flies were generally affected more by CO2 exposure than were males. Melon files were the least affected of the tested species by anesthetization with CO2.