Alimentary Tract Bacteria Isolated and Identified with API-20E and Molecular Cloning Techniques from Australian Tropical Fruit Flies, Bactrocera cacuminata and B. tryoni

Bacteria were isolated from the crop and midgut of field collected Bactrocera cacuminata (Hering) and Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae). Two methods were used, firstly isolation onto two types of bacteriological culture media (PYEA and TSA) and identification using the API-20E diagnostic kit, and secondly, analysis of samples using the 16S rRNA gene molecular diagnostic method. Using the API-20E method, 10 genera and 17 species of bacteria in the family Enterobacteriaceae were identified from cultures growing on the nutrient agar. The dominant species in both the crop and midgut were Citrobacter freundii, Enterobacter cloacae and Klebsiella oxytoca. Providencia rettgeri, Klebsiella pneumoniae ssp ozaenae and Serratia marcescens were isolated from B. tryoni only. Using the molecular cloning technique that is based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, five bacteria classes were dignosed — Alpha-, Beta-, Gamma- and Delta- Proteobacteria and Firmicutes — including five families, Leuconostocaceae, Enterococcaceae, Acetobacteriaceae, Comamonadaceae and Enterobacteriaceae. The bacteria affiliated with Firmicutes were found mainly in the crop while the Gammaproteobacteria, especially the family Enterobacteriaceae, was dominant in the midgut. This paper presents results from the first known application of molecular cloning techniques to study bacteria within tephritid species and the first record of Firmicutes bacteria in these flies

Survey of Opiine parasitoids of fruit flies (Diptera:Tephritidae) in Thailand and Malaysia

A survey of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) from wild and cultivated host plants was conducted in Thailand and Malaysia between 1986 and 1994. In addition to fruit flies, host samples also yielded parasites of those flies, predominantly opiine wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Opiinae). Although used extensively in classical biological control programmes, very little is known about the host relationships of these parasites in their native environment. From the survey work, host records are given for 13 described species (viz. Diachasmimorpha albobalteata [Cameron], D. dacusii [Cameron], D. longicaudata [Ashmead], Fopius arisanus [Sonan], F. deeralensis [Fullaway], F. persulcatus [Silvestri], F. skinneri [Fullaway], F. vandenboschi [Fullaway], Opius bellus Gahan, Psvtallia flelcheri [Silvestri], P. incisi [Silvestri], P. makii [Sonan] and Utetes bianchii [Fullaway]) and three undescribed opiines. The parasitoid species are listed in relation to the fruit fly species within fruit samples, and the plant species from which the flies and wasps were reared

Multiple mating by females of two Bactrocera species (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae)

Abstract Multiple mating was investigated in two tephritid species when females were under minimal male pressure because they were each confined with a single male in cages 20r20r20 cm and observed daily until they died. Laboratory-reared females of Bactrocera cucumis (French) lived up to 274 days and refractory periods averaged 59-63 days. However, the distribution of matings among B. cucumis females was not significantly different to that expected by chance. Wild females of Bactrocera cacuminata (Hering) reared from field-collected fruits of Solanum mauritianum Scopoli lived for up to 134 days and mated up to three times with refractory periods between matings averaging 27-39 days. The distribution of the number of matings among females of B. cacuminata was non-random because of the high proportion of non-maters (50%); but, when only females mating more than once were considered, there was no significant departure from random expectation

INABILITY OF DERAEOCORIS SIGNATUS (DISTANT) (HEMIPTERA: MIRIDAE) TO SURVIVE AND REPRODUCE ON COTTON WITHOUT PREY

Deraeocoris signatus nymphs developed to adults when provided with cotton tips or squares plus cotton aphids (Aphis gossypii Glover) or aphids only. Nymphs fed only on tips or squares all died within 3 d. Adults supplied with aphids plus tips or squares survived about 9 d longer than adults supplied with tips or squares only. Females provided with aphids produced eggs but females denied aphids did not. These findings, together with an absence of observed damage to cotton, warrant the exclusion of D. signatus from the complex of sap‐sucking bugs considered to be damaging to early‐season cotton in eastern Australia. Copyrigh

Pest Status of Nysius-Clevelandensis Evans and N Vinitor Bergroth (hemiptera, Lygaeidae) On Cotton

The pest status of the grey cluster bug (N. clevelandensis Evans) and Rutherglen bug (N. vinitor Bergroth) on cotton has, to date, been unclear. Under laboratory conditions we found that nymphs of both species fail to reach adulthood when fed cotton (tips or squares) alone, and adults are unable to reproduce on such a diet. In no stage of their development were bugs of either species able to damage seedling or early‐squaring cotton, even if no alternative food supply was provided. Our results therefore confirm that neither species is damaging to early‐season cotton

Seasonal abundance and host use patterns of seven Bactrocera Macquart species (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia

Freely access on publisher website Based on extensive male trapping, information is presented on the distribution and seasonal abundance of six Bactrocera species in Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia. Bactrocera dorsalis and B. correcta were trapped in northern and central Thailand, B. papayae, B. carambolae and B. umbrosa were restricted to southern Thailand and Malaysia, while B. cucurbitae was widespread, although more abundant in the north. Bactrocera dorsalis, B. papayae and B. correcta exhibited unimodal patterns of population abundance, with populations peaking between June and September depending on species and locality. Bactrocera carambolae, B. cucurbitae and B. umbrosa showed no clear patterns in their population modalities, varying between regions. Based on fruit rearing work undertaken in northern and southern Thailand, information on host use patterns is also provided for the above six species, plus B. latifrons. Bactrocera umbrosa, B. latifrons and B. cucurbitae are confirmed as oligophagous on Artocarpus spp., Solanum spp. and cucurbit spp., respectively. Species of the B. dorsalis complex (B. dorsalis, B. carambolae, B. papayae) and B. correcta, although with a very wide potential host range, were predominantly reared from a small number of hosts, including Terminalia catappa, Psidium guajava, Syzygium samarangense and Averrhoa carambola. The number of flies reared from such hosts were generally in excess of the proportion of that fruit in regional samples, implying that even though the flies are polyphagous species, not all hosts are used equally

Host plant records for fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Southeast Asia

Plant records, derived largely from field studies in Thailand and Malaysia from 1986-94, are provided for 131 species of Southeast Asian Tephritidae