Reproductive Maturation and Premating Period of the Papaya Fruit Fly, Toxotrypana Curvicauda (Diptera: Tephritidae)
Abstract
Female papaya fruit flies, Toxotrypana curvicauda Gerstaecker, obtained from field-infested papayas, Carica papaya L., required 5 to 6 days to develop mature ovaries comparable in size to those of ovipositing field-collected females. Younger females, with ovaries less than 0.25 cm long, were absent from papaya groves, suggesting that female papaya fruit flies do not search out host plants until mature. In mating tests females mated when 5 days old or older, while males mated at any age (one to 6 days after emergence) although mating rates were less with one-day-old males.Downloads
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