Socially facilitated egglaying behaviour in Mediterranean fruit flies.

摘要

The behaviour of individual mature female Mediterranean fruit flies (medflies), Ceratitis capitata, transferred from a holding cage without fruit to a clean host kumquat fruit already occupied by another medfly female engaged in ovipositional behaviour was examined. A significantly greater proportion of transferred (=test) ovipositionally naive females initiated ovipositor boring into a fruit in the presence than in the absence of an occupying medfly. Moreover, test females commenced boring significantly sooner in the presence than in the absence of another medfly. Interestingly, similar results occurred when a test medfly was transferred to a kumquat occupied by an ovipositing female oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis. In contrast, there wasno enhancement of propensity to bore when a test medfly was transferred to a kumquat occupied by a female Biosteres arisanus, a parasitoid attacking medfly eggs. The principal proximate stimulus giving rise to the higher tendency to oviposit of a test medfly in the presence of an occupying medfly or oriental fruit fly appeared to be wing-waving by the occupant during an encounter. These findings are considered to be good evidence of socially facilitated ovipositional behaviour in ovipositionally naivemedflies, and suggest that such females may benefit from acquisition of a cue demonstrating the acceptability of a host for oviposition.