Comportamento sexual de Anastrepha sororcula Zucchi (Diptera, Tephritidae) em laboratório

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Sexual behavior of Anastrepha sororcula Zucchi (Diptera, Tephritidae) in laboratory. Anastrepha sororcula Zucchi, 1979, is a fruit fly species that can be considered a key pest to the production of guava (Psidium guajava L., 1758), fruit tree which has a wide distribution in Brazil. In view of the importance of this species as a natural pest of Brazilian horticulture and, considering the lack of data about its biology and behavior, the aim of this paper is to obtain information about the age of sexual maturation of A. sororcula in the laboratory and to describe its reproductive behavior. The males reached sexual maturity between 7 and 18 days after emergence, with most of the individuals becoming sexually mature between 10 and 13 days of age. They exhibited signalling behavior to the females, characterized by the distension of the pleural area of the abdomen, forming a small pouch on each side, and by the protrusion of a tiny membranous pouch of rectal cuticle that surrounds the anal area. During this display, the males produced rapid movements of vibration of the wings, producing audible sounds. A droplet was liberated from the anal area during the vibration movements of the wings. After attracting the females, the males accomplished a series of elaborated movements of courtship behavior. The females reached sexual maturation between 14 and 24 days after emergence, with the majority becoming sexually mature at 19 days. The daily exhibition of sexual activities was confined almost exclusively to the period of 16:00-17:30h. A. sororcula presented a sharp protandry pattern.

Sexual behavior of Anastrepha striata Schiner (Diptera: Tephritidae) under laboratory conditions

“…The males positioned their hind legs close to the female's aculeus so as to raise it so that the aculeus was prolonged and in this way the coupling of the genitals could occur. Such behavior has already been observed by Dickens et al (1982) in A. ludens, by Silva et al (1985) in A. obliqua and by Facholi-Bendassolli & Uchôa-Fernandes (2006) in A. sororcula.…”

“…The males presented faster development (Figure 4), characterizing the protandry in the sexual maturation of this species. Such behavior was also observed by Facholi-Bendassolli & Uchôa-Fernandes (2006), when studying the sexual behavior of A. sororcula in laboratory, in which males matured sexually first (between 7 and 18 days) than females (between 14 and 24 days).…”

“…During this period, the males first distended the abdominal pouches, located between the 3rd and 5th segments, probably due to the production of hormones, as described by Facholi-Bendassolli & Uchôa-Fernandes (2006).…”

“…For A. sororcula, the copulation schedule occurred between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the laboratory (Aluja et al, 1999;Facholi-Bendssolli& Uchôa-Fernandes, 2006), whereas for A. fraterculus, it occurred between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. in seminatural conditions (Malavasi, 1984). On the other hand, A. serpentina was sexually active throughout the day (between 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.) both in the field and in the laboratory (Facholi-Bendassolli& Uchôa-Fernandes, 2006).…”

“…According to Facholi-Bendassolli & Uchôa-Fernandes (2006), the calling behavior of A. sororcula males can be observed between the 18th and 22nd days after emergence.…”