Mating Behavior and Basic Biology of Haywardina cuculi (Diptera: Tephritidae), a Poorly Known Species Exhibiting High Variability in Copulation Duration

Life history, dormancy regulation, reproductive physiology and basic behaviour of the subtropical fruit flyRhagoletotrypeta pastranai(Diptera:Tephritidae)

“…(2005) in northwestern Argentina. On average, only one larva developed per fruit as is common in other species of Carpomyini (Averill and Prokopy, 1987; Ovruski et al ., 2005; Rull et al ., 2016, 2017) and there was no correlation between fruit size and number of larvae per fruit, perhaps owing to the fact that host fruits are small, abundant and very similar to each other with an average weight of 1.68 ± 0.30 g. A total of 426 adult flies emerged from 1376 recovered larvae from C. tala fruits over a year, of which only four individuals appeared without becoming dormant and the largest proportion of the population emerged after 40 days following pupation. Parasitism level was low with nine wasps emerged over a year of which only one became dormant and emerged 172 days after pupation.…”

“…Likewise, there was a considerable number of missing pupae in overwintering cups, possibly owing to the action of some microorganisms that had grown in the vermiculite substrate. Factors of diapause/dormancy regulation and their overwintering mechanisms are poorly understood in subtropical species (Danks, 2007), especially in members of the Carpomyini (Rull et al ., 2017). Some factors, e.g.…”

“…This temporal pattern might have evolved in response to natural conditions during the fruiting season of C. tala where temperatures at that time of the day might be similar to those we applied in the laboratory. According to our observations, the mating system can be classified as resource defence by males, which is common among the Carpomyini group (Prokopy and Papaj, 1999; Rull et al ., 2017). However, because of the low number of copulations observed under laboratory conditions, and considering the fact that most species of Carpomyini whose sexual behaviour has been observed are highly promiscuous (Prokopy and Papaj, 1999; Opp and Prokopy, 2000; Rull et al ., 2017), we believe that behavioural observations in the field are necessary to conclusively characterize the mating system of this species.…”

“…Within this group, the tribe Carpomyini is composed of 140 species arranged in 12 genera (Smith and Bush, 1999; Norrbom, 2004) that inhabit the Holartic and Neotropical Regions and of which, the genus Rhagoletis is the most recognized. In contrast, most of other genera have been poorly studied and there is scarce information about their natural history, biology, behaviour and phylogenetic relationships (Norrbom, 1994; Smith and Bush, 1999; Rull et al ., 2017).…”

“…After adult emergence from dormant pupae, the majority of adult Carpomyini need to acquire protein for gonadic development (Prokopy and Papaj, 1999). However, there are some exceptions to this rule, such as Haywardina cuculi and Rhagoletis blanchardi which engage in sexual behaviour immediately after adult emergence (Rull et al ., 2017; Rull, 2020), suggesting that sexual maturation occurred during metamorphosis using larval stores.…”