Seasonal Abundance of Mango Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and Ecological Implications for Their Management in Mango and Cashew Orchards in Benin (Centre & North)

Abstract

We report the results of a large-scale (six orchards) and long-term (5-yr) study on seasonal population fluctuations of fruit flies (Diptera Tephritidae) in mango (2005-2009) and cashew (2007-2009) orchards in the Borgou Department, Benin.During the five consecutive years of mango fruit fly monitoring, 25 tephritid species were captured including three species of Bactrocera, 11 of Ceratitis, and 11 of Dacus, which is represented by 2,138,150 specimens in mango orchards. We observed significant differences in Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) counts between "high" and "low" mango production years from 2005 to 2008 but not in Ceratitis cosyra (Walker) counts. The native species, C. cosyra, the most abundant species during the dry season, peaked beginning of May, while the exotic species, B. dorsalis, the most abundant species during the rainy season, peaked in June. Preliminary results underlined the role of nine species of wild hosts and seven species of cultivated ones around mango orchards that played an important role in maintaining B. dorsalis in this Sudan zone all year round. The presence of C. cosyra stretched over 9 mo.During the first 14 wk of tephritid monitoring on cashew orchards situated near mango orchards, most flies (62%) were captured in traps positioned in cashew orchards, showing the strong interest of an early fly control on cashew before the mango season. According to these results, in the Sudan zone, effective and compatible control methods as proposed by the IPM package validated by the West African Fruit Fly Initiative project against mango fruit flies are proposed for a large regional tephritid control program in same zones of West Africa.

Host use of the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae), in South Africa

“…The suppression of B. dorsalis populations is also critical in preventing the spread of this species to new hosts. Allowing population size to reach levels similar to those in East and West Africa may lead to the exploitation of a wider array of commercially grown fruit and other hosts (Ekesi et al, 2006;Mwatawala et al, 2009b;Vayssières et al, 2015). An increase in population levels could also allow B. dorsalis to outcompete Ceratitis species, which has been found to occur in Kenya (Ekesi, Billah, Nderitu, Lux, & Rwomushana, 2009).…”

Grower Perception of the Significance of Weaver Ants as a Fruit Fly Deterrent in Tanzanian Smallholder Mango Production

“…An increasing population density of fruit flies as the season progresses may also be a contributory factor as illustrated by Vayssieres et al (2015), who trapped almost no B. invadens at the beginning of the mango season, increasing to 35,000-55,000 flies per month at the season end.…”

Pathogenicity of indigenous entomopathogenic nematodes from Benin against mango fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) under laboratory conditions

“…The original colony of B. dorsalis used at the IITA-Benin institute was established from naturally infested mango fruits collected in Northern Benin. Flies were fed with a mixture of brown sugar and yeast extract at 3:1 proportion (Vayssières et al, 2015). Cages were supplied with water.…”