Plant Chemicals and the Sexual Behavior of Male Tephritid Fruit Flies

SEGURA, DIEGO F; BELLIARD, SILVINA A; VERA, M TERESA; BACHMANN, GUILLERMO E; RUIZ, M JOSEFINA; JOFRE-BARUD, FLAVIA; FERNÁNDEZ, PATRICIA C; LÓPEZ, M LIZA; SHELLY, TODD E

ANNALS OF THE ENTOMOLOGYCAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOC AMER

Lugar: Lanham; Año: 2018

0013-8746

Plant compounds affect insects in many different ways. In addition to being a food source, plants also containsecondary metabolites that may have positive and negative impacts on insects. The influence of these compoundson sexual behavior, in particular, has been the focus of many recent studies. Here, we review the existingliterature on the effects of plant compounds on the sexual behavior of tephritid fruit fly males. We put specialfocus on polyphagous species whose males congregate in leks, where females exert strong mate selection. We firstsummarize the main findings related to plant compounds that increase male signaling behavior and attraction offemales and consequently increase mating frequency, a phenomenon that has been recorded mainly for speciesof Anastrepha and Ceratitis. In other tephritid species, males are attracted to phenylpropanoids produced by plants(such as methyl eugenol or raspberry ketone) that, upon encounter, are consumed and sequestered by males.These compounds, or metabolic derivatives, which normally have negligible nutritional value, are included in thepheromone and also confer advantages in a sexual context: enhanced female attraction and improved male matingsuccess. These phenomena have been reported for several Bactrocera species as well as for Zeugodacus cucurbitae.Because many tephritid species are serious pests, the effect of plant compounds on male behavior has beenexplored for potential incorporation into control strategies such as the sterile insect technique (SIT). We concludenoting several factors, such as age and nutrition during larval and adult stage, that modulate the effect of plantcompounds on male mating behavior as well as some prominent gaps that preclude a thorough understandingof the plant-mediated enhancement of male sexual performance and hence limit our ability to effectively utilizephytochemicals in pest control strategies.