Dinamic tephritid fruit fly response to olfactory and visual cues and the importance of foraging behavior for trap design and use

Abstract

Foraging behavior can be defined as a set of conducts by which an organism finds and acquires nutrients, egg-laying sites, or mates. It has therefore an important influence on the fitness of the forager and consequently it is the target of selection and often very plastic. Tephritid fruit flies find and use resources and mates by engaging in a sequence of behavioral events which are governed by olfactory, visual and tactile cues. Response to those cues depends on genotype, physiological state, experience, and environmental conditions. Foraging behavior has been exploited for the development of fruit fly traps. Natural and synthetic odors have been used for long distance attraction and visual cues have been exploited to improve effective trapping devices. Nevertheless, given the complex nature of foraging behavior and the numerous factors that can influence this trait, trap efficiency can also be dynamic, and efficient pest control and interpretation of monitoring results have to take into account the larger environmental and historical context in which trap captures occur. Additionally, identification of attractive volatiles and visual cues for the design of effective traps has to take into consideration the existence of competing natural stimuli that vary according to seasonal phenology. Here we overview, tephritid fruit fly foraging behavior in the context of trap design and use and attempt to illustrate the complexity of tephritid trapping with some examples of its dynamics. Our goal is to illustrate that efficient tephritid trapping requires in-depth knowledge of foraging behavior, this being key for the development of sustainable fruit fly management for pest control.