Consumption of Sugars by Anastrepha suspensa (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Author： Nigg H. N. Schumann R. A. Stuart R. J. Etxeberria E. Yang J. J. Fraser S.

Publisher： Entomological Society of America

ISSN： 1938-2901

Source： Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Vol.99, Iss.6, 2006-11, pp. : 1139-1145

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

We were interested in determining the feeding response of the Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa (Loew) (Diptera: Tephritidae), to various sugar concentrations to develop an improved bait for adults. We compared the consumption of 0.01–1.00 M concentrations of glucose, fructose, raffinose, and sucrose in no-choice tests for 24-h- and 6-d-old male and female flies. Sucrose was the most consumed sugar or within the most consumed group of sugars at 0.02–0.20 M concentrations. There were no differences in consumption among sugars at 0.01, 0.40, and 1.00 M. Consumption generally increased with increasing sugar concentration except that sucrose consumption peaked at 0.20 M. Twenty-four-hour-old females consumed less fructose than other sugars; 24-h-old males consumed more sucrose than fructose or raffinose with an intermediate response to glucose. Females in the 6-d-old group consumed more sucrose than the other three sugars, whereas 6-d-old males exhibited no difference in consumption among sugars. In choice tests, flies consumed more sugar solution than water, but the difference between 0.20 M fructose and water was not significant for 24-h-old males or females. In choice tests between 0.20 M fructose and 0.20 M sucrose, both 24-h- and 6-d-old females showed a preference for fructose. Males of both age classes showed no preference. These results indicate that the responses of flies to different sugars can vary by sugar, gender, and age.