Male-lure type, lure dosage, and fly age at feeding all influence male mating success in Jarvis’ fruit fly

4Citations
Citations of this article
18Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Males of certain Dacini fruit flies are strongly attracted to, and feed upon, plant secondary compounds such as methyl eugenol, raspberry ketone and zingerone. The consumed lure is generally found to induce physiological and behavioural changes that enhance the mating performance of lure-fed males. Male Bactrocera jarvisi respond strongly to zingerone from a young age, but only weakly respond to raspberry ketone. We hypothesized that this selective lure-response would be reflected in the physiological importance of the lure to the fly. We found that zingerone feeding by young males resulted in significantly greater mating success in competitive mating trials with lure-deprived flies, but the mating advantage was lost in older males. Lure dosage had a significant effect on the duration of the mating advantage, for example when fed 20 µg of zingerone, the advantage lasted only 1 day post-feeding, but when fed of 50 µg zingerone the advantage lasted 7 days. Raspberry ketone feeding did not confer any mating advantage to males except at one dosage (50 µg) for 1 day after feeding. When given a choice, B. jarvisi females preferred to mate with zingerone-fed versus to raspberry ketone-fed males. This study revealed lure, dosage and age of fly at time of lure administration are all important factors for maximising lure-enhanced fruit fly mating performance. These findings contribute to a better theoretical understanding of the evolution of fruit fly-lure interactions and may help improve fruit fly pest management via the Sterile Insect Technique through semiochemical-mediated enhancement of sterile male mating performance.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Wee, S. L., & Clarke, A. R. (2020). Male-lure type, lure dosage, and fly age at feeding all influence male mating success in Jarvis’ fruit fly. Scientific Reports, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-72209-x

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free