Factors influencing seasonal fluctuation of a Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) population in northeastern location of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

DIEGO F. SEGURA; MARÍA T. VERA; JORGE L. CLADERA

Florida, EEUU

Congreso; 5th Meeting of the Working Group on Fruit Flies of the Western Hemisphere; 2004

A survey of 11 hosts species of Ceratitis capitata was carried out in an experimental area of San Pedro (Buenos Aires, Argentina). The abundance of adult flies was compared with the percentage of infested fruit and the number puparia recovered per kilogram of fruit along the reproductive season. Also, the effect of some biotic and abiotic factors on the population fluctuations was analyzed. The study included 12 fortnightly samplings in which 200 fruits were taken at random. For each fruit, the number of puparia of C. capitata was registered. It was found that the population fluctuations were not related to the availability of hosts. Probably, the restrictive effect of the low temperatures of winter prevents the population from reaching the levels required to exploit the resource in proportion to its availability. In the study area, temperature was the only climatic factor showing significant association with the abundance of C. capitata and the infestation levels. The association of the abundance of adults flies and of the infestation levels with the temperature of the previous period were higher than the correlation with the temperature of the present period, probably indicating that temperature had a stronger effect on the immature stages than on the adults.