Size specific demography of three species of Anastrepha fruit flies.
Liedo P., Carey J. R., Celedonio H., Guillen J.
Author Affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 63 : 135-142
Abstract : Individuals of the tephritids Anastrepha obliqua and A. ludens from mangoes and of A. serpentina from Calocarpum sapota [Pouteria sapota] were collected in the field in Mexico and sorted according to pupal weight. Demographic parameters and reproductive patterns and heterogeneity were determined for each cohort. Large flies of the 3 species presented greater expectation of life and gross fecundity rates. A. ludens had the longest life span (110 days for large adults) and the greatest gross fecundity rates (1597 eggs/female for large flies). A. obliqua had the shortest mean age of reproduction (33 days), and the greatest daily egg production (14 eggs/female per day). Net fecundity was similar in these 2 species. A. serpentina had lower fecundity rates. Reproductive information for each size and each species include: age-by-parity relations, fractions of sexually mature life in which females lay eggs, and frequency distribution of individual egg production. It is demonstrated that even under constant laboratory conditions and using standard artificial hosts, there is a great deal of life history variation among these species and among other tephritids.