Globalization and fruitfly invasion and expansion: the medfly paradigm

Abstract

The phytophagous insects of the Tephritidae family commonly referred to as "true fruit flies" offer different case histories of successful invasions. Mankind has played an important role in altering the distributions of some of the more polyphagous and oligophagous species. However, the question arises why only a few species have become major invaders. The understanding of traits underlying adaptation in different environments is a major topic in invasion biology. Being generalists or specialists, along the K-r gradient of the growth curve, make a difference in term of food resources exploitation and interspecies competition and displacement. The species of the genus Ceratitis are good examples of r-strategists. The genetic and biological data of the most notorious Ceratitis species, the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (medfly), are reviewed to investigate the traits and behaviours that make the medfly an important invader. It can be learnt from medfly, that invasions in a modern global trade network tend to be due to multiple introductions. This fact allows a maintenance or enhancement of genetic variability in the adventive populations, which in turn increases their potential invasiveness. Our current knowledge of the medfly genome opens the way for future studies on functional genomics.

Morphological and electrophysiological analysis of tarsal sensilla in the medfly Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824) (Diptera: Tephritidae)

“…It infests different fruits, mainly targeting pomaceous (apples and pears) and citrus (oranges) cultures, and easily adapts to novel host plants depending on their availability (Malacrida et al 2007). Current integrated pest management of C. capitata relies on use of pesticides, the Sterile Insect Technique (Hendrichs et al 2002) and traps based on host marking pheromone (HMP) application (Silva et al 2012).…”

Morphological characterization of the antennal lobes in the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata

“…is a widespread pest for horticulture, targeting a great variety of fruit and vegetables species (Liquido et al 1990). It is considered one of the most important agricultural pests in the world not only for its broad polyphagy, but also because of its biological potential, the possibility of adaptation to diverse environments and the difficulty of control (Gasperi et al 2002;Malacrida et al 2007;De Meyer et al 2008;Diamantidis et al 2011). Due to its commercial relevance, many studies focused on the development and improvement of different control strategies.…”

Genetic Diversity of ND5 mitochondrial patterns inCeratitis capitata(Diptera: Tephritidae) populations from Tunisia

“…Beginning from a presumed origin in Sub-Saharan Africa, in the past 200 years, this pest has expanded its geographic range to the Mediterranean basin as well as many other tropical and subtropical regions of the world (Sheppard et al 1992;Meixner et al 2002;Malacrida et al 2007). In all of these areas the establishment of this pest causes considerable economic losses in fruit production i.e.…”