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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Parlier, California » San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center » Commodity Protection and Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #223340

Title: Susceptibility of Olive Fruit in Relation to Olive Fruit Fly Development and Ovipositional Period in California

Author
item Yokoyama, Victoria

Submitted to: Entomology Society of America Pacific Branch Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/5/2008
Publication Date: 3/24/2008
Citation: Yokoyama, V.Y. 2008. Susceptibility of Olive Fruit in Relation to Olive Fruit Fly Development and Ovipositional Period in California. Entomology Society of America Pacific Branch Meeting, March 30 - April 2, 2008, Napa, California. P. 22.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin), females oviposited their first and last eggs in olive fruit, Olea europaea L., when females were 6 and 90 d-old, respectively. The highest mean numbers of eggs per day in 10 olive fruit (55) were oviposited by 28 d-old females, and peak egg production occurred when females were between 13-37 d-old. The susceptibility of six size groups of immature olive fruit to oviposition and larval infestation by olive fruit fly was studied in laboratory cage tests. Fruit height from the stem to the blossom end was a more reliable method to separate the sizes than the calculated fruit volume (1/6 x height x diameter²). A significantly greater number of ovipositional sites occurred in all sizes of immature green fruit when exposed to adults in cages for 5 d versus 2 d. The number of adults that emerged from the same fruit was similar for both exposure periods. Adults emerged from fruit exposed to oviposition in size groups with a height of greater than or equal to 1.0 cm or a volume of greater than or equal to 0.2 cm³.