The Biology of the Invasive Fruit fly under laboratory conditions

Abstract

The experiments of the present study were conducted under laboratory condition were maintained at 29 ±1oC& 41 ± 5% relative humidity (RH) and photoperiod of L12:D12 at the College of Agricultural Studies, Sudan University of Science and Technology to study biology of the invasive fruit fly Bactrocera invadens Drew Tsuruta and White (Diptera:Tephritidae),. The results of the study showed that the Pre- oviposition period of B. invadens was 2 days. Immature stages take about 20 days to reach the adult stage. Through the study, it was found that egg hatching was found to be after 1- 2 days, larval duration for the first, second and third instars were 2, 3and 3 days respectively and the pupation period takes about 8-10 days. The sex ratio was 4:1 female to male and adult longevity for B. invadens about 2 to 8 weeks. The results of the study showed that B. invadens prefer certain fruits and this was measured by examining and recording the mean of surviving larvae per single fruit. The result was as follows 17.66 larvae in guava, 8 larvae in mango, 2 larvae in grapefruit and 1.33larvae in banana. No infestations were found in Orange, lemon, Apple, Date palm, Grape and Sidir fruits.