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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #255056

Title: Mating frequencies and production of hybrids by Rhagoletis pomonella and R. zephyria (Diptera: Tephritidae) in the laboratory

Author
item Yee, Wee
item GOUGHNOUR, ROBERT - Washington State University

Submitted to: The Canadian Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/5/2010
Publication Date: 3/5/2011
Citation: Yee, W.L., Goughnour, R.B. 2011. Mating frequencies and production of hybrids by Rhagoletis pomonella and R. zephyria (Diptera: Tephritidae) in the laboratory. The Canadian Entomologist. 143:92-90.

Interpretive Summary: Apple maggot fly is a quarantine pest of apples in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The presence of the snowberry maggot fly, which does not attack apples, makes quarantine decisions and control efforts more difficult, as the two species look nearly identical and can hybridize. Personnel at the USDA-ARS Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory, Wapato, WA, are determining the mating frequencies between the two species of flies. There were lower numbers of matings when female snowberry maggot flies were paired with male apple maggot flies than when female apple maggot flies were paired with male snowberry maggot flies. This mating asymmetry may contribute to the low incidence of hybridization in nature. The results suggest very few flies caught on traps are misidentified due to hybridization, so quarantine and control efforts are unlikely to be affected by hybrids to a large degree.

Technical Abstract: Apple maggot fly is a quarantine pest of apples in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The presence of the snowberry maggot fly, which does not attack apples, makes quarantine decisions and control efforts more difficult, as the two species look nearly identical and can hybridize. Personnel at the Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory in Wapato, WA, are determining the mating frequencies between the two species of flies. We found that there were lower numbers of matings when female snowberry maggot flies were paired with male apple maggot flies than when female apple maggot flies were paired with male snowberry maggot flies. This mating asymmetry may contribute to the low incidence of hybridization in nature, reducing the potential impact of hybrids affecting quarantine and control measures.