Daily activity patterns and within-field distribution of papaya fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Morelos and Veracruz, Mexico

We quantified within-orchard distribution patterns and diel patterns of oviposition, male calling, mating, feeding, and resting behaviors of wild papaya fruit flies, Toxotrypana curvicauda Gerstaecker, in experimental and commercial papaya orchards in the states of Morelos and Veracruz, Mexico. Essential resources (e.g., oviposition substrates, sites to perform sexual activities, food, shelter) were indentified in both papaya plantations and in adjacent native vegetation. In papaya monocrops. T. curvicauda adults fly back and forth between native vegetation and papaya plantations. They enter plantations in the morning and leav them in the afternoon. As a consequences, the highest proportion of individuals was sighted in border rows (those closest to native vegetation). If papaya plantations are mixed (papaya, mango, avocado, guanabana), both within-orchard distribution and daily movement patterns differ when compared with those observed in papaya monocrops. Here, most flies are seen in areas next to mango or avocado trees (shelter sites) and not in plantation borders. We discuss our findings in light of their practical implications.