Understanding Long-Term Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) Population Dynamics: Implications for Areawide Management

Abstract

Fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) are devastating agricultural pests worldwide but studies on their long-term population dynamics are sparse. Our aim was to determine the mechanisms driving long-term population dynamics as a prerequisite for ecologically based areawide pest management. The population density of three pestiferous Anastrepha species [Anastrepha ludens (Loew), Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart), and Anastrepha serpentina (Wiedemann)] was determined in grapefruit (Citrus x paradisi Macfad.), mango (Mangifera indica L.), and sapodilla [Manilkara zapota (L.) P. Royen] orchards in central Veracruz, México, on a weekly basis over an 11-yr period. Fly populations exhibited relatively stable dynamics over time. Population dynamics were mainly driven by a direct density-dependent effect and a seasonal feedback process. We discovered direct and delayed influences that were correlated with both local (rainfall and air temperature) and global climatic variation (El Niño Southern Oscillation [ENSO] and North Atlantic Oscillation [NAO]), and detected differences among species and location of orchards with respect to the magnitude and nature (linear or nonlinear) of the observed effects, suggesting that highly mobile pest outbreaks become uncertain in response to significant climatic events at both global and local levels. That both NAO and ENSO affected Anastrepha population dynamics, coupled with the high mobility of Anastrepha adults and the discovery that when measured as rate of population change, local population fluctuations exhibited stable dynamics over time, suggests potential management scenarios for the species studied lie beyond the local scale and should be approached from an areawide perspective. Localized efforts, from individual growers will probably prove ineffective, and nonsustainable.

Fluctuación poblacional de Anastrepha ludens en la región de Santa Engracia, Tamaulipas, México

“…There have been other studies on population fluctuation of fruit flies and their relationship with environmental variables in areas with fruit crop in tropical areas (Celedonio-Hurtado et al, 1995;Aluja et al, 1996;Martinez-Morales et al, 2003;Tucuch-Cahuich et al, 2008, Aluja et al, 2012. In the north of the country, Thomas (2012) studied populations of A. ludens associated with C. greggi in SMO relating them to climatic factors.…”

Composition of Anastrepha species (Diptera: Tephritidae) in habitats with different levels of anthropogenic activity

“…Environments with high degree of disturbance may result in intimate adaptation of species to their hosts. In agroecosystems, the intensity of fruit fly infestation is typically limited (ALUJA et al, 2012). The uniformity of the agricultural area in the current study (extensive area with only guava) contributed to the dissimilarity of this area with the other two areas.…”

Flutuação populacional e estimativa do número de gerações de Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae) em pomar de macieira em Caçador, Santa Catarina, Brasil

“…Informações sobre a flutuação populacional de moscas--das-frutas e a sua relação com os fatores bióticos e abióticos devem ser obtidas e interpretadas adequadamente, para que seja realizado o controle regionalizado (ALUJA et al, 2012). Dessa maneira, este estudo teve como objetivos registrar a flutuação populacional, avaliar a influência das variáveis meteorológicas nas oscilações populacionais e calcular o número de gerações/ano de A. fraterculus em Caçador, Santa Catarina.…”