Oviposition preference of spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) for fresh fruit and fruit-like shapes artificial diets of raspberry and blueberry

Document Type : Research articles

Author

Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Minia University, El Minya, Egypt

Abstract

The spotted wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), is a serious insect that attacks a wide range of small skinned. It possesses a serrated ovipositor that allows it to lay eggs in unwounded commercial fruits, causing severe crop losses. This study was implemented to assess the oviposition preference, development time of immature and mature stages and egg hatchability percentages for D. suzukii on raspberry and blueberry fresh fruits and fruit-like shapes made of artificial diets in no-choice and choice tests. The results demonstrated that D. suzukii females exhibited a preference for laying eggs in fresh fruits over fruit-like shapes, regardless of whether it was raspberry or blueberry in the choice test. However, no significant differences were observed in the number of eggs laid between fresh raspberries and fruit-like raspberry shapes in the no-choice test. Additionally, fresh raspberry and blueberry fruits displayed a significantly two-fold larger diameter compared to their respective fruit-like shapes. Moreover, the choice test results for either raspberry or blueberry indicated that the highest numbers of D. suzukii larvae, pupae, and total emerged adults were found on fresh raspberry fruits, while the lowest numbers were recorded on fruit-like blueberry shapes. However, these numbers did not significantly differ from those of fresh blueberry fruits or fruit-like raspberry shapes. Furthermore, the development time for larvae, pupae, and adults was consistently longer when using fruit-like blueberry shapes compared to other treatments, while it was shortest when fresh raspberry fruits were employed.

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