Sexual and Oviposition Behaviors of Ceratitis capitata (Wied.) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Cashew Apple (Anacardium occidentale L.)

Abstract

The host selection behavior is essential to studies of plant-insect interaction, considered as a critical step to populations maintenance since it directly influences the offspring development. This work describes the sexual and oviposition behavior of the invasive species Ceratitis capitata (Wied.) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in cashew apple (Anacardium occidentale L.). The results showed that from 5.645 behavioral patterns registered, for males and females in the tests with papaya, mango, cashew apple, sprayed papaya extract and sprayed mango extract, 3.719 were activities displayed by the males and 1.935 displayed by the females. To the females, the walking activity on the cashew apple differed between the morning and afternoon shift (4.3 + 2.58 and 1.5 + 1.22). The oviposition in mango fruits (11.16) differed from all the other treatments, except from papaya (6.38). However, the quantity of obtained adults was higher in papaya fruits (97) than in mango fruits (49), reducing on the papaya (48) and mango (24) treatments exposed to the cashew apple extract. There are differences in the total number of obtained adults by treatment, showing that the cashew extract reduces the total in papaya and mango treatments.