The Rhagoletis pomonella species complex is one of the foremost examples supporting the occurrence of sympatric speciation. A recent study found that reciprocal F(1) hybrid offspring from different host plant-infesting populations in the complex displayed significantly reduced olfactory host preference in flight-tunnel assays. Behavioral and electrophysiological studies indicate that olfactory ...

The aim of this work was to review the role of the host marking pheromone (HMP) and its application in integrated management programs for the fruit flies. Initially the oviposition behavior of tephritids has been analyzed with emphasis on Ceratitis capitata. The deposition of HMP, which consists in the last stage of the oviposition behavior has been characterized and discussed about evolutive a...

Boris Ephrussi studied fruit flies, yeast, and mouse [3] genetics and development while working in France and the US during the twentieth century. In yeast, Ephrussi studied how mutations in the cytoplasm persisted across generations. In mice he studied the genetics of hybrids and the development of cancer. Working with George Wells Beadle [4] on the causes of different eye colors in fruit flie...

The patterned wings of tephritid fruit flies often are moved in complex manners during sexual encounters. However, there are few cases of sexual dimorphism, and wing movements also may occur in non-sexual contexts. There was no evidence that enhancing or obliterating the patterns on the wings of male Caribbean fruit flies, Anastrepha suspensa (Loew), had any effect on their sexual success. Ther...

Seasonal distributions of the western cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis indifferens Curran (Diptera: Tephritidae), in sweet cherry (Prunus avium (L.) L.) (major host), black hawthorn (occasional developmental host) (Crataegus douglasii Lindley), and other trees were determined in a ponderosa pine ecosystem in Washington state, USA. The hypothesis that most fly dispersal from cherry trees occurs afte...

Tephritid fruit flies, or "true" fruit flies (Diptera, Tephritidae) include approximately 500 genera and 4800 valid species (Norrbom 2004), whose vast majority (95%) is represented by phytophagous species (reviewed in Aluja and Norrbom 1999). Among them, frugivorous flies represent approximately 25–30% of all tephritid species, occur in tropical and temperate regions of all continents except th...

Fruit flies are pests of major economic importance in agriculture. Among these pests it is possible to highlight some species of genus Anastrepha, which attack a wide range of fruits, and are widely distributed in the American tropics and subtropics. Researchers seek to identify fruit flies in order to implement management and control programs as well as quarantine restrictions. However, fruit ...

The diurnally active fruit flies prefer a major meal in the morning. Feeding the flies in the evening uncouples their metabolic cycle from circadian activity rhythms. A paper by Xu et al. in this issue of Cell Metabolism found that such uncoupled rhythms reduce egg laying.

Male fruit flies touch females during courtship. A new study finds that pheromone input received through the male's foreleg allows him to generate the courtship song appealing to female flies. This activity involves sexually dimorphic fruitless-expressing neurons in the brain.