Local Enhancement of Alighting in the Melon Fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae: Effect of Olfactory, Visual, and Acoustical Stimuli

In studies conducted in Hawaii under both greenhouse and field conditions, we evaluated the propensity of melon fly females, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) (Diptera: Tephritidae), to alight on either fruit mimics (agar spheres) or host fruit that were or were not occupied by conspecific resident females. We also examined the extent to which occurrence of local enhancement of alighting found in B. cucurbitae females was affected by a variety of factors such as the presence or the absence of host fruit odor (zucchini or ivy gourd), the number of conspecifics present on a host, the degree of isolation of assayed females from other females prior to testing, and the kinds of stimuli (acoustical, visual, olfactory) emanating from conspecifics present on a host mimic. In addition, we asked whether local enhancement might be operative in the food-foraging behavior of melon flies. We found that in a variety of situations, melon fly females alighted in significantly greater numbers at resources (food, fruit mimics, or host fruit) occupied by conspecific females than at unoccupied resources. Such positive influence of resident conspecific females was more pronounced in greenhouse cage assays when one or two rather than four residents were present on a host mimic (but was more pronounced when four rather than one or two residents were present on a host fruit in a field test), and was more evident when test females were grouped with conspecific females than when test females were isolated from conspecific females for 5 days before testing. Rather than acoustical or olfactory stimuli associated with resident conspecific females, the mere physical presence (visual stimulus) of a motionless dead resident melon fly female provided sufficient stimulation for test females to alight in significantly greater numbers at resources occupied by conspecific females than at unoccupied resources. We consider our findings as good evidence of local enhancement in the melon fly and discuss our results in relation to monitoring tactics for adult melon flies.