Limited behavioral flexibility in oviposition behavior for the invasive fly species Zaprionus indianus (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

GRAMENOS, IRINA A.; SOTO, EDUARDO M.; NICOLÁS LAVAGNINO

ENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2022 vol. 00 p. 1 - 12

0013-8703

Zaprionus indianus Gupta (Diptera: Drosophilidae) is a fly species native to the Afrotropical biogeographic region that expanded its geographical distribution to the American continent around 1999. This species lays eggs, feeds, and develops on a wide variety of fruits colonized by yeasts and bacteria, as well as on ripe, non-damaged soft-skinned fruits. The arrival of Z. indianus to American ecosystems entails co-existence with other drosophilid species with the same resource specificity, like cosmopolitan human commensal Drosophila melanogaster Meigen (Diptera: Drosophilidae). In this scenario, the oviposition strategy could be relevant for invasion success in terms of partitioning the utilization of resources in space or time. We investigated if Z. indianus avoids laying eggs in resources previously used by another species (D. melanogaster), or if oviposition is unaffected by the presence of other species? larvae. Results show a stable oviposition behavior of Z. indianus, considering that this species lays the same number of eggs regardless of whether the oviposition resource has larvae of other species, while D. melanogaster showed a flexible oviposition behavior when presented to the same oviposition resources. Being Z. indianus a good larval competitor against other drosophilids, this stable oviposition strategy could be positive for invasiveness since it ensures a continuous spread of eggs and subsequent larval development during invasion to new and heterogeneous ecosystems.