Male condition and seminal fluid affect female host-marking behavior in the Mexican fruit fly.

Mating and the transfer of seminal fluid components including male accessory glands (MAGs) proteins can affect oviposition behavior in insects. After oviposition, some species of fruit flies deposit a host-marking pheromone (HMP) on the fruit that discourages oviposition by other females of the same or different species or genus and reduces competition between larvae. However, we know very little about how mating, receiving seminal fluid, or male condition can affect female host marking behavior.

Mating, but Not Male Accessory Gland Products, Changes Female Response to Olfactory Cues in Fruit Flies.

Copulation and/or ejaculate components can alter female physiological state and female post-mating behavior. The objective of the present study was to determine if copulation and male reproductive accessory gland products (MAGs) modify the behavior of female (Loew) and (Macquart; Diptera: Tephritidae) in response to two stimuli: male-emitted pheromone and oviposition host volatiles. Olfactometry studies revealed that mated females of both and have a stronger response for host volatiles compared to unmated females, which have a stronger response for male pheromone.

The Mayan Tropical Rainforest: An Uncharted Reservoir of Tritrophic Host-Fruit Fly-Parasitoid Interactions.

Over a two-year period, we surveyed natural areas of the Mayan rainforest in Quintana Roo, Mexico. We found 11 species of Schiner (Diptera: Tephritidae) infesting 25 species of fruits belonging to ten plant families. We report the first records of 10 host plant species of the genus , which include the first report of a plant family (Putranjivaceae) serving as host of (Wiedemann) infesting (Sw.

Pontoscolex corethrurus: A homeless invasive tropical earthworm?

The presence of earthworm species in crop fields is as old as agriculture itself. The earthworms Pontoscolex corethrurus (invasive) and Balanteodrilus pearsei (native) are associated with the emergence of agriculture and sedentism in the region Amazon and Maya, respectively. Both species have shifted their preference from their natural habitat to the cropland niche.

Patterns of Oviposition and Feeding in the Monophagous Fly Anastrepha spatulata (Diptera: Tephritidae) on its Larval Host Plant Schoepfia schreberi.

Monophagous insects that use discrete resources for oviposition and feeding are especially sensitive to variations in host quality and availability because their opportunities to find these resources are scarce. The monophagous tephritid fly Anastrepha spatulata Stone is a tephritid fly that uses as hosts the fruits of the non-economically important Schoepfia schreberi J. F.

New records and descriptions of Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera) from Mexico.

Based on a large quantity ichneumonid material collected mainly from the Mexican states of Veracruz and Quintana Roo, faunistic records of 79 species belonging to subfamilies Acaenitinae, Banchinae, Cryptinae, Cylloceriinae, Labeninae, Lycorininae, Microleptinae, Pimplinae, Tersilochinae, and Tryphoninae are provided. Three species are described as new to science: Latosculum ortegai Kasparyan Khalaim, sp. nov.

Natural enemy defense, provisioning and oviposition site selection as maternal strategies to enhance offspring survival in a sub-social bug.

The influence of maternal defense against natural enemies, maternal provisioning and oviposition site selection on offspring survival before and after hatching were examined in a semelparous pentatomid bug, Ramosiana insignis. Oviposition occurs on leaves of Schoepfia schreberi, or surrounding vegetation from which nymphs migrate to feed exclusively on S. schreberi flower buds.

Host use and resource sharing by fruit/seed-infesting insects on Schoepfia schreberi (Olacaceae).

The interactions between the fruit fly Anastrepha spatulata Stone (Diptera: Tephritidae) and two species of moths, the gelechiid Coleotechnites sp. and an unidentified tortricid species, were examined on their effects on seed production in terms of their exploitation within fruits of Schoepfia schreberi J.F.

First record of Calliephialtes sittenfeldae associated with the tephritid fruit fly Anastrepha spatulata in Mexico.

This paper reports for the first time an ichneumonid parasitoid Calliephialtes sittenfeldae Gauld Ugalde-Gómez et Hanson (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) associated with a dipteran host Anastrepha spatulata Stone (Diptera: Tephritidae), recovered from fruit of Schoepfia schreberi (Santalales: Olacaceae) in central Veracruz, Mexico. Large numbers of this parasitoid were collected and reared from its fruit fly host in three localities of Veracruz, Mexico. Some observations of its biology are also reported.