Fitness components of a recently-established population of Zaprionus indianus (Diptera, Drosophilidae) in Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT. This study aimed to evaluate fitness components of Zaprionus indianus Gupta, 1970, a species recently introduced in Brazil and currently in process of colonization. Longevity, productivity, developmental speed and viability of flies sampled from a population from Mirassol (state of São Paulo, Brazil) were evaluated. Longevity was higher than that of some Indian populations and productivity was similar or higher than in other Drosophilidae. Time of development, one of the main fitness components for competition, was very similar to the values scored in Drosophila sturtevanti Duda, 1927, a species that occurs in high frequencies in the same area as Z. indianus. These data might contribute further for understanding the colonization success of this newcomer species in South America.KEYWORDS. Fitness components, productivity, viability, time of development, Zaprionus. (CHASSAGNARD & TSACAS, 1993;CHASSAGNARD, 1996) and Anaprionus, with 12 species from Australia and Southeastern Asia (TSACAS & CHASSAGNARD, 1990;GUPTA & GUPTA, 1991). Zaprionus indianus seems to be the unique species of Zaprionus subgenus that is spreading throughout the tropical regions, probably due to the intensification of the world fruit commerce (VILELA et al., 2001). This species occurs throughout Africa, India and Saudi Arabia, as well as in islands of the Indian Ocean (Comores, Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius and Réunion) and of the Atlantic Ocean (Canary and Saint Helena) (CHASSAGNARD & KRAAIJEVELD, 1991;CHASSAGNARD & TSACAS, 1993). In Africa, it has been found in 74 species of 31 botanical families; among them, several are native of the American continent (avocado, pineapple, guava and papaya) or have been here introduced (carambola, banana, citrus, mango and fig) (LACHAISE & TSACAS, 1983).The occurrence of Z. indianus in South America was first reported in Brazil (VILELA, 1999) and then in Uruguay (GOÑI et al., 2001). It has been suggested that this species may have been introduced in Brazil by airplane transportation from African or Asian countries to the city of São Paulo, possibly in meals (fruits for instance) offered to passengers (VILELA, 1999;TIDON et al., 2003). Zaprionus indianus has been found in all regions of Brazil (CASTRO & VALENTE, 2001;VILELA, 1999;VILELA et al., 2001;TIDON et al., 2003).Although Z. indianus has not been considered as a pest in the Afrotropical region, it seems to be reaching the pest status in the fig main producer areas of the state of São Paulo (Brazil). In 1999, 50% of the fig crops were lost due to oviposition of these flies (VILELA et al., 2001). Since Z. indianus has also been found in other tropical fruits, such as citrus, persimmon, guava, jambul and acerola (VILELA et al., 2001), it is possible that this species will become invasive in the culture of these agricultural products, thus causing damages to regional economies.Little information about Z. indianus reproductive biology is found in the literature. Therefore, the quantification of fitness components in laboratory is an important t...

Biological Studies on the African Fig Fly, Zaprionus Indianus Gupta (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

“…Similar results were recorded in Brazil as 1.32 and 1.11 which represents higher numbers of females than males (Setta andCarareto, 2005, Matavelli et al, 2013), which confirms our findings.…”

“…The mean duration of life cycle of Z. indianus at 25˚C recorded in our study (17.9 days with a range of 13.9 -23.2 days) was similar to that reported in Brazil by Setta and Carareto (2005) at the same experimental temperature, which was 18.5 day with a range of 15-25 day, also to that reported in Brazil too by Stein et al (2003) who recorded the mean life cycle as 16.78 day with a range of 13-23.50 day at the same temperature.…”

“…However, studies of longevity of sexually active and inactive flies carried out by Setta and Carareto (2005) for Brazilian population, which were reared on banana-agar media at 25˚C, were found to be higher than that obtained for the Jordanian population of the fly. Also it was observed that sexually active and inactive females lived longer than males, while results from our study showed that females died earlier than males.…”

“…The duration of oviposition and postoviposition recorded in the present study were 16-63 and 0-10 days, respectively which were similar to Saudi populations (9-62 and 0-12 day of oviposition and postoviposition, respectively, Amoudi et al, 1991). However, in the Brazilian populations oviposition period lasted 14-98 day at 25˚C (Setta and Carareto, 2005). The incubation period was ranged from 22-28 hr and fertility from 80-100%.…”

“…Its optimum temperature ranged from 20 to 30˚C (Amoudi et al, 1993). In Saudi Arabia, the mean generation life cycle was recorded as 22.4 days at 25˚C which was shorter than that recorded at 30˚C (Amoudi et al, 1991), while in Brazil it was at an average of 13 to 20 days (Stein et al, 2003).The number of generations/year varies from 12 to 16 (Karan et al, 2000;Setta and Carareto, 2005;Nava et al, 2007). Field and laboratory studies on Indian populations showed that Z. indianus overwinters in the egg stage and to a few extents as pupae.…”