Feeding, Mating, and Oviposition Activities of Rhagoletis fausta1 Flies in Nature

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Abstract
Data from field observations on the location and frequency of feeding, mating, and oviposition activities of black cherry fruit fly adults, Rhagoletis fausta, revealed the following. Immature and mature flies were abundant both on fruiting sour cherry trees and nearby hickory saplings, with very few flies on nearby sumac or apple. Feeding occurred principally on the paired leaf nectaries of cherry leaves, and less often on the leaf surfaces of cherry and hickory. Series of short upward flights to the bottom surface of leaves, followed by a single long downward flight after reaching an upper terminus, characterized the inter-leaf movements and nectary feeding bouts of flies on cherry. Nearly all male:female encounters, attempted copulations, and mating pairs occurred on cherry or on hickory growing through and above a canopy of cherry. All copulation was initiated on leaves or in midair near a leaf. Almost all encounters and mating occurred within 11 clays of 1st fly eclosion, when both sexes spent most time on leaves and little time on fruit. Oviposition began after that, and was accompanied by a shift toward more time spent by each sex on fruit. The relations of these activities to one another and to activities of other dipterans are discussed.

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