Mating Behavior of Mediterranean Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in a Natural Environment

Abstract

Systematic quantitative observations of the mating behavior of wild Mediterranean fruit flies, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) were made in a semi-isolated orchard in Kula, Maui, Hawaii. Matings occurred on only a small proportion of the available trees, and most occurred on only three trees. All matings occurred on the bottom surfaces of sunlit leaves. Most matings occurred during midday and lasted nearly 3 h. In almost all cases, 1-10 other males were present in the same tree as the mating pair. Intruders won more than two-thirds of all male-male interactions and females terminated most failed courtship attempts. Male size and territory location did not correlate with mating success, and a small percentage of the males mated more than once.