Ecological significance of male attractant in the defence and mating strategies of the fruit fly, <i>Bactrocera papayae</i>

Abstract

Abstract After being acclimatized to feeding on fruit flies, the Asian house gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus Duméril &amp; Bibron (Gekkonidae:Squamata), consumed fewer methyl eugenol (ME) fed male fruit flies, Bactrocera papayae Drew &amp; Hancock (Tephritidae: Diptera) than when offered ME‐deprived males. After one‐day exposure to only ME‐fed males, the geckos avoided feeding on female flies when in the presence of ME‐fed males. When mechanically disturbed, the ME‐fed males spontaneously ejaculated a rectal secretion which contains phenyl propanoids that deter the predator. The ME‐fed males also competed significantly better than normal (ME‐deprived) males for virgin females. Male B. papayae converts ME to three other phenyl propanoids which act in concert as a sex pheromone to attract females during courtship and as an allomone to the gecko.