Role of fruit characters and colour on host selection of boreal fruits and berries by Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

Abstract

Continued range expansion of Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) is exposing new species of soft fruits and berries to potential infestation. Our understanding of cues that drive host-finding and selection in this highly polyphagous pest insect is still incomplete. Fruit firmness influences host choice behaviour by limiting suitability for oviposition and larval development. Other factors such as fruit sweetness and acidity act as cues for fruit ripening. Here we assess the role of these cues and fruit colour on host selection. We demonstrate that the use of objective and nonanthropocentric methods of quantifying colour in studies of colour preference is critical to understanding the cues evoking responses from insects. Acidity but not sweetness increased D. suzukii attraction and larval success. Differences in D. suzukii attraction were most strongly correlated with short-wavelength reflectance (blue, cyan, and green (470–560 nm)). Growers could select for fruit varieties with relatively higher reflectance values upon maturity to reduce susceptibility to D. suzukii.

Evaluation of Wild Flora Surrounding Blueberry Fields as Viable Hosts of Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura, 1931) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in Georgia

“…The skin resistance of grapevine berries was shown to be the determining factor in the number of eggs oviposited when compared to other fruit parameters [53]. Skin penetration resistance and other characteristics such as brix, pH, skin firmness, and coloration were not quantified in this study but have been shown to be major factors in the susceptibility of fruit to pest infestation [29,[54][55][56]. On average, it is established that the skin penetration resistance of a fruit is negatively correlated to D. suzukii oviposition levels and that fruit with higher pH and brix are more attractive to D. suzukii for oviposition and development [20,29,46,55,[57][58][59].…”

Physical and Chemical Traits of Grape Varieties Influence Drosophila suzukii Preferences and Performance

“…Traits such as pulp elasticity and consistency have been related to offspring emergence success, for example, by affecting the gas exchange of D. suzukii eggs and larvae ( Tonina et al, 2020 ). In addition, subtle differences in fruit chemical composition, such as sugar content, acidity, nutrient content and specialized (secondary) plant compounds of the inner fruit may have influenced the larval development in different grape berries ( Rodriguez-Saona et al, 2019 ; Little et al, 2020b ; Tonina et al, 2020 ). Sugar content has been found to correlate with D. suzukii oviposition and performance ( Ioriatti et al, 2015 ; Lee et al, 2011 ).…”

“…Red Vitis vinifera varieties (A) "Regent", (B) "Acolon", and (C) "Pinot Noir" as well as white cultivars (D) "Müller-Thurgau" and (E) "Pinot Blanc". differences in fruit chemical composition, such as sugar content, acidity, nutrient content and specialized (secondary) plant compounds of the inner fruit may have influenced the larval development in different grape berries (Rodriguez-Saona et al, 2019;Little et al, 2020b;Tonina et al, 2020). Sugar content has been found to correlate with D. suzukii oviposition and performance (Ioriatti et al, 2015;Lee et al, 2011).…”

Texture features explain the susceptibility of grapevine cultivars to Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) infestation in ripening and drying grapes

“…The cultivar selection operated by D. suzukii in the field can be also linked to other factors such as skin colour, with a clear preference for the red cultivars, and berries health condition 18,22,27,44,46 . In addition, biochemical molecules as those of odours released by the grape colonizing microorganisms may stimulate D. suzukii egg deposition [20][21][22]44,[54][55][56][57][58] .…”