Sexual and Oviposition Behaviors of Ceratitis capitata (Wied.) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Cashew Apple (Anacardium occidentale L.)

Abstract

The host selection behavior is essential to studies of plant–insect interaction, considered as a critical step to populations maintenance since it directly influences offspring development. This work describes the sexual and oviposition behavior of the invasive species Ceratitis capitata (Wied.) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in cashew apple (Anacardium occidentale L.). The results showed that from 5.645 behavioral patterns registered, for males and females, in the tests with papaya, mango, cashew apple, sprayed papaya extract, and sprayed mango extract, 3.719 were activities displayed by the males and 1.935 displayed by the females. As regards the female species, the walking activity on cashew apples differed between the morning and afternoon shifts (4.3 ± 2.58 and 1.5 ± 1.22). The oviposition behavior in mango fruits (11.16) differed from all the other treatments, except from papaya (6.38). However, the quantity of obtained adults was higher in papaya fruits (97) than in mango fruits (49), reducing with papaya (48) and mango (24) treatments exposed to the cashew apple extract. There are differences in the total number of obtained adults by treatment, showing that the cashew extract reduces the total number of adults obtained in papaya and mango treatments. The results obtained in this research are essential for advances in studies related to chemical ecology and behavior of Mediterranean fruit flies in semiarid fruits.