A new Bactrocera species in Benin among mango fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) species.
Vayssières J. F., Goergen G., Lokossou O., Dossa P., Akponon C.
Author Affiliation: IITA, Biological Control Center for Africa, 08 BP 0932, Cotonou, Benin.
: 581-588
Abstract : Fruit flies are of major economic importance in tropical regions. In Benin, nothing was known about mango fruit fly species, except their damages. Field experiments were conducted in Benin, during the 2005 cropping season, to study the fluctuations of tephritid populations in orchards and to assess mango fruit fly infestations and mango losses due to tephritid species. Fruit fly males were captured on mango trees in 2 different orchards with parapheromone traps. For sampling and characterizing fruit fly species involved in mangos infestations, fruits of 17 cultivars were collected in mango orchards from February to June 2005. Then, they were brought to the laboratory for emerging species identification. For assessing the loss of fruits, sampling of different mango cultivars was achieved in the same orchards. Infested fruits were counted and eliminated and potentially infested fruits were dissected. Among 8 mango fruit fly species found in Benin, 4 can be considered as species of economic significance, i.e. Ceratitis cosyra, C. quinaria, C. silvestrii and Bactrocera invadens. During the dry season, C. cosyra was the most abundant, whereas B. invadens was the most numerous during the rainy season in phenological accordance with the ripening of the different mango cultivars. From and after mid-May, B. invadens was found more frequently than C. cosyra in the traps and from emergence of infested mangoes. Average fruit damage varied from 10 (beginning of April) to 50% (June) for all species together. Most of the mango tephritid species found through the investigations were previously already observed in other West African countries, except B. invadens, a newly described invasive species. Further ecological and behavioural studies are necessary to plan and implement IPM methods for controlling this new economicallly important pest in West Africa.