Is the Natural Instinct to Oviposit in Mated Female Oriental Fruit Fly, More of a Brain-Independent Act?

What physiological and neuro-molecular changes control the female oviposition behavior post-mating in insects? The molecular changes that occur in a gravid female insect are difficult to dissect out considering the distinct behavioral patterns displayed by different insect groups. To understand the role of the brain center in Oriental fruit fly, oviposition, egg-laying behavior was analyzed in γ-octalactone exposed, decapitated mated females. Interestingly, the females displayed a possible urge to oviposit, which suggests a natural instinct to pass on the gene pool.

Specific volatile compounds from mango elicit oviposition in gravid Bactrocera dorsalis females.

Selecting a suitable oviposition site is crucial to the fitness of female insects because it determines the successful development of their offspring. During the oviposition process, an insect must use cues from the external environment to make an appropriate choice of where to lay eggs. Generalist insects can detect and react to a plethora of cues, but are under selection pressure to adopt the most reliable ones to override noise and increase efficiency in finding hosts.

Isolation and identification of host cues from mango, Mangifera indica, that attract gravid female oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis.

The oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, is an economically damaging, polyphagous pest of fruit crops in South-East Asia and Hawaii, and a quarantine pest in other parts of the world. The objective of our study was to identify new attractants for B. dorsalis from overripe mango fruits.