Life history and overwintering in multi- and univoltine species of family Tephritidae in a subtropical region of northwestern Argentina

Abstract

Among phytophagous insects, life history often evolves as a strategy to cope withseasonality in host plant availability. Whereas specialization often leads to dormancy,aestivation, or longevity, polyphagous species bridge between periods of hostavailability by exploiting alternative host plants. The aim of the present work wasto characterize the life histories of four species of specialist and generalist uni-andmultivoltine frugivorous fruit flies – Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann, Anastrepha fraterculusWiedemann, Rhagoletis blanchardi Aczel, and Rhagoletotrypeta pastranai Aczel (allDiptera: Tephritidae) – inhabiting in sympatry in Las Yungas phytogeographicalprovince in Tucumán (northwestern Argentina). For this purpose, infested host plantfruits were sequentially collected during two consecutive years, and flies recoveredfrom these fruits were subjected to demographic experiments to establish longevityand overwintering mechanisms. The results indicated that life cycles were tightlyrelated to host fruit availability, where multivoltine species sequentially exploitdifferent host plants over the year, whereas univoltine species must undergo pupaldormancy to reach the next host fructification period and may extend the duration ofdormancy when climatic conditions are acyclic and unpredictable. The present studymay broaden knowledge about diapausing Tephritidae in subtropical regions andmay contribute to an increased conceptual basis for the improvement of pest controlstrategies, such as the sterile insect technique (SIT).