Socially facilitated egglaying behavior in Mediterranean fruit flies

We examined the behavior of individual mature female Mediterranean fruit flies (medflies), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), transferred from a holding cage without fruit to a clean host kumquat fruit already occupied by another medfly female engaged in ovipositional behavior. A significantly greater proportion of transferred (=test) ovipositionally naive females initiated ovipositor boring into a fruit in the presence than in the absence of an occupying medfly. Moreover, test females commenced boring significantly sooner in the presence than in the absence of another medfly. Interestingly, similar results occurred when a test medfly was transferred to a kumquat occupied by an ovipositing female oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis Hendel. In contrast, there was no enhancement of propensity to bore when a test medfly was transferred to a kumquat occupied by a female Biosteres arisanus (Sonan), a parasitoid attacking medfly eggs. The principal proximate stimulus giving rise to the higher tendency to oviposit of a test medfly in the presence of an occupying medfly or oriental fruit fly appeared to be wing-waving by the occupant during an encounter. We consider our findings to be good evidence of socially facilitated ovipositional behavior in ovipositionally naive medflies, and suggest that such females may benefit from acquisition of a cue demonstrating the acceptability of a host for oviposition. Received: 7 July 1997 / Accepted after revision: 30 August 1997