Host plant range of a fruit fly community (Diptera: Tephritidae): does fruit composition influence larval performance?

Abir Hafsi (1, 2) , Benoit Facon (3) , Virginie Ravigné (1) , Frédéric Chiroleu (1) , Serge Quilici (1) , Brahim Chermiti , Pierre-François Duyck (1)

1 UMR PVBMT - Peuplements végétaux et bioagresseurs en milieu tropical
2 Institut Supérieur Agronomique de Chott-Mariem, Laboratoire d’Entomologie et de Lutte Biologique
3 UGMC - Génétique Moléculaire et Cellulaire

Background: Phytophagous insects differ in their degree of specialisation on host plants, and range from strictly monophagous species that can develop on only one host plant to extremely polyphagous species that can develop on hundreds of plant species in many families. Nutritional compounds in host fruits affect several larval traits that may be related to adult fitness. In this study, we determined the relationship between fruit nutrient composition and the degree of host specialisation of seven of the eight tephritid species present in La Reunion; these species are known to have very different host ranges in natura. In the laboratory, larval survival, larval developmental time, and pupal weight were assessed on 22 fruit species occurring in La Reunion. In addition, data on fruit nutritional composition were obtained from existing databases. Results: For each tephritid, the three larval traits were significantly affected by fruit species and the effects of fruits on larval traits differed among tephritids. As expected, the polyphagous species Bactrocera zonata, Ceratitis catoirii, C. rosa, and C. capitata were able to survive on a larger range of fruits than the oligophagous species Zeugodacus cucurbitae, Dacus demmerezi, and Neoceratitis cyanescens. Pupal weight was positively correlated with larval survival and was negatively correlated with developmental time for polyphagous species. Canonical correspondence analysis of the relationship between fruit nutrient composition and tephritid survival showed that polyphagous species survived better than oligophagous ones in fruits containing higher concentrations of carbohydrate, fibre, and lipid. Conclusion: Nutrient composition of host fruit at least partly explains the suitability of host fruits for larvae. Completed with female preferences experiments these results will increase our understanding of factors affecting tephritid host range.

Mots clés: Tephritidae; Nutriments composition; Carbohydrate; Food webs; Host range; DIFFERENT LIFE STAGES; PHYTOPHAGOUS INSECTS; INTERSPECIFIC COMPETITION; NEOCERATITIS-CYANESCENS; OVIPOSITION PREFERENCE; BACTROCERA-CUCURBITAE; CERATITIS-CAPITATA; PAPILIO-MACHAON; IMMATURE STAGES; FLIES DIPTERA

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Abir Hafsi, Benoit Facon, Virginie Ravigné, Frédéric Chiroleu, Serge Quilici, et al.. Host plant range of a fruit fly community (Diptera: Tephritidae): does fruit composition influence larval performance?. BMC Ecology, 2016, 16, ⟨10.1186/s12898-016-0094-8⟩. ⟨hal-01602366⟩