Influence of male aggregation size on female visitation in Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Abstract

The importance of male aggregation size for female visitation and initiation of male pheromone-calling was investigated in Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae) using artificial male aggregations in large laboratory cages. Female B. tryoni visited the largest aggregation more frequently than single males in association with a higher proportion of calling males, but there was no correlation between aggregation size and female visitation. Female B. tryoni had a limited capacity to perceive a difference between the number of calling males. Calling propensity of male B. tryoni was increased by the presence of conspecific males. Increased calling propensity in larger groups of male B. tryoni may be due to social facilitation of male calling behaviour. Female visitation at aggregations was only weakly associated with male calling, suggesting that aggregation size and the number of pheromonecalling males are not the only factors important in locating mates in B. tryoni, and it is possible that low-density populations could persist so long as females can encounter single males.

Review of Dispersal, Survival, and Establishment ofBactrocera tryoni(Diptera: Tephritidae) for Quarantine Purposes

“…Meats et al (2003) found 71% of single B. tryoni detections did not lead to outbreaks, compared with 18% for Mediterranean fruit ßy. Although B. tryoni were recognized as capable of traveling longer distances than Mediterranean fruit ßy, possibly due to the differences in the time taken to reach sexual maturity, they also were recognized as poor colonizers in fruit ßyÐfree areas (Bateman 1972(Bateman , 1977Edge et al 2001;Fletcher 1986;Meats et al 2003, Weldon 2007. Even introduction by human activity (jump dispersal) most often does not result in establishment of B. tryoni (Maelzer et al 2004, Meats andEdgerton 2008).…”

“…Long-distance dispersal may reduce the likelihood of completing a successful mating because fruit ßies disperse in random directions and do not travel in pairs (Fletcher 1974). It is the immature ßies that disperse; therefore, the chances of a sexually mature male and female occurring in the same tree or group of trees after many days of dispersal is reduced (Fletcher 1974, Meats 1998b, Weldon 2007. Dispersing individuals rapidly cause a dilution of the founder population with ßies moving outwards into a "vacuum" and their chances of Þnding a mate are reduced to near zero at the extremes of dispersal (Bateman 1977, Weldon andMeats 2010).…”

“…Males gather on the upwind side of trees: they stridulate and release pheromone, directing the pheromone stream through the foliage (Tychsen 1977). Male calling is energetically expensive, and calling in aggregations maximizes their chances of mating success: females visit single males less frequently than large male aggregations (Weldon 2007). Males downwind of an aggregation have Ϸ10 min to ßy upwind to join the ßying swarm (Tychsen 1977).…”

Male territoriality and mating system in the European beewolf Philanthus triangulum F. (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae): evidence for a “hotspot” lek polygyny

“…Alternative 1 is the least likely, since there seems to be no reason for males to attract conspecifics in the manner of scolytid beetles that reproduce in tree bark where success is increased when acting collectively (for a review see Raffa 2001). Alternative 1 implies that territories with more males are more attractive for females (Weldon 2007;Young et al 2009). This would generate the prediction that males should not fight intruders and additional males should also scent-mark to attract even more males.…”

Uso de semioquímicos en el control de plagas. Estudios básicos y de aplicación

“…Entre ellos, han sido ampliamente estudiadas las feromonas sexuales cuticulares, con estructura de hidrocarburo, producidas por moscas de las familias Drosophilidae (Drosophila melanogaster Meigen), Muscidae (Musca domestica L.) y Glossinidae (Glossina morsitans Newstead) (Carlson et al, 1971;Langley y Carlson, 1983;Wicker y Jallon, 1995;Tillman et al, 1999). La familia Tephritidae, a la que pertenece la mosca Mediterránea de la fruta (C. capitata), presenta un sistema de apareamiento tipo lek, descrito ampliamente para especies de los géneros Bactrocera (Miyatake y Haraguchi, 1996;Jackson y Long, 1997;Shelly, 2001;Weldon, 2007), Anastrepha (Sivinski, 1989;Segura et al, 2007) y Ceratitis (Arita y Kaneshiro, 1985;Kaspi y Yuval, 1999), por el que los machos forman grupos y emiten señales para atraer a las hembras. Por esta particularidad en su comportamiento sexual, la mayoría de las feromonas descritas para tefrítidos son emitidas por los machos de la especie en cuestión (Kobayashi et al, 1978;Burk, 1983;Robacker y Hart, 1985;Lu y Teal, 2001).…”