Poor Host Status of Australian Finger Lime, , to , and (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Hawai'i.

We examined the host status of the Australian finger lime, F. Muell. (Rutaceae), to Hawai'i's tephritid fruit fly pests using laboratory and field studies. In high-density (500 flies, 1:1 males and females) no-choice cage exposures (25 × 25 × 25-cm cage size), both undamaged and punctured finger limes were infested by and at a low rate compared to papaya controls, whereas did not infest undamaged fruit, suggesting finger lime is a nonhost. In low-density (50 females) no-choice cage exposures, and readily oviposited in undamaged fruit but individuals rarely developed to the pupal or adult stage. For , 274 finger limes exposed to 2000 gravid females, which laid an estimated 14,384 eggs, produced two pupae and no adults. For , 299 fruit exposed to 2000 gravid females, which laid an estimated 4484 eggs, produced four pupae and one adult. Field sampling of undamaged fruit from the tree and off the ground from commercial farms produced five pupa and one adult from 1119 fruit, for an infestation rate of 0.05 flies per kilogram of fruit; field collections found no natural or infestation, but the number of fruit available was too low to demonstrate nonhost status with a high degree of confidence.