Abstract
During ovipositor dragging on the fruit surface following egg laying in hawthorne fruit,Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) females deposit an unidentified pheromone that deters repeated oviposition attempts in that fruit. The pheromone proved water soluble and, when collected and sprayed in aqueous solution onto uninfested fruits in laboratory cages, effectively deterred boring attempts byC. capitata females of wild origin for at least 6 days (termination of test). A laboratory population ofC. capitata cultured on artificial media for more than 200 generations deposited pheromone that proved equally as deterrent to wild fly oviposition as pheromone from wild flies. However, lab fly oviposition was not effectively deterred by the presence of pheromone. The ecological significance of the pheromone is discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abasa, R.O. 1972. The Mediterranean fruit fly,Ceratitis capitula Wied. Laboratory investigations of its reproductive behavior inCoffea arabica in Kenya.J. East Afr. Agric. Forest. 37:181–184.
Christenson, L.D., andFoote, R.H. 1960. Biology of fruit flies.Ann. Rev. Entomol. 5:171–192.
Cirio, U. 1971. Reperti sul meccanismo stimolo-risposta nell' ovideposizione delDacus oleae Gmelin (Diptera: Trypetidae).Redia 52:577–600.
Cirio, U. 1972. Osservazioni sul comportamento di ovideposizione dellaRhagoletis completa Cress, in laboratatio.Proceedings of the 9th Congress of the Italian Entomological Society (Siena), 99–117.
Féron, M. 1957. Le comportement de ponte deCeratitis capitata Wied.: Influence de la lumière.Rev. Pathol. Veg. Entomol. Agric. Fr. 36:127–143.
Katsoyannos, B.I. 1975. Oviposition-deterring, male-arresting fruit marking pheromone inRhagoletis cerasi.Environ. Entomol. 4:801–807.
Katsoyannos, B.I., andBoller, E.F. 1976. First field application of oviposition-deterring pheromone of European cherry fruit fly,Rhagoletis cerasi.Environ. Entomol. 5:151–152.
Oshima, K., Honda, H., andYamamota, I. 1973. Isolation of an oviposition marker from Azuki bean weevil,Callosobruchus chinensis (L).Agric. Biol. Chem. 37:2679–2680.
Prokopy, R.J. 1972. Evidence for a marking pheromone deterring repeated oviposition in apple maggot flies.Environ. Entomol. 1:326–332.
Prokopy, R.J. 1975. Oviposition-deterring fruit marking pheromone inRhagoletis fausta.Environ. Ent. 4:298–300.
Prokopy, R.J. 1976. Significance of fly marking of oviposition site (in Tephritidae).In V. Delucchi (ed.),Studies in biological control, Cambridge University Press. 23–37.
Prokopy, R.J., Reissig, W.H., andMoericke, V. 1976. Marking pheromones deterring repeated oviposition inRhagoletis flies.Entomol. Exp. Appl. 20:170–178.
Prokopy, R.J., Greany, P.D., andChambers, D.L. 1977. Oviposition deterring pheromone inAnastrepha suspensa.Environ. Entomol. 6:463–465.
Rothschild, M., andSchoonhoven, L.M. 1977. Assessment of egg load byPieria brassicae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae).Nature 266:352–355.
Sanders, W. 1962. Das Verhalten der MittelmeerfruchtfliegeCeratitis capitata Wied. bei der Eiablage.Z. Tierpsychol. 19:1–28.
Tanaka, N., Steiner, L.F., Ohinata, K., andOkamoto, R. 1969. Low-cost larval rearing medium for mass production of oriental and Mediterranean fruit flies.J. Econ. Entomol. 62:967–968.
Tanaka, N., Okamoto, R., andChambers, D.L. 1970. Methods of mass rearing the Mediterranean fruit fly currently used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Symposium Sterile-Male Technique for Control of Fruit Flies. IAEA, Vienna, 1969: 19–23.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Prokopy, R.J., Ziegler, J.R. & Wong, T.T.Y. Deterrence of repeated oviposition by fruit-marking pheromone inCeratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae). J Chem Ecol 4, 55–63 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988260
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988260