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Mating Behavior and Basic Biology of Haywardina cuculi (Diptera: Tephritidae), a Poorly Known Species Exhibiting High Variability in Copulation Duration

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Abstract

The natural history and mating behavior of a species of tephritid fruit fly in the poorly studied genus Haywardina are described for the first time. Haywardina cuculi Hendel larvae were recovered over four field seasons from infested fruit of Vassobia breviflora (Sendtn.) Hunz, which constitutes a new host plant record for this species. Recovered pupae emerged as adults over 183 days on average, suggesting that most individuals became dormant. Adult flies engaged in sexual activity as soon as two days after emergence, were highly promiscuous, and displayed large variability in copulation duration. As for most tephritid species in the subtribe Carpomyini, H. cuculi exhibited a resource defense mating system. Fly activity peaked around noon. Copulation could last from 9 min to 17 h, with most copulations beginning in the afternoon and lasting until the following day. We discuss the potential significance of copulation duration variability in light of mate guarding and sperm competition hypothesis and outline future research to understand the evolution of life history and these behavioral strategies.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Felipe and Eliseo Rull for keeping us awake during odd ours of the night for behavioral observations. This study was funded by PIP CONICET n° 1353 to Pablo Schlisermann and a CONICET fellowship to Sergio Ovruski and Juan Rull.

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Author notes

  1. Dr. Juan Rull, Dr. Solana Abraham, and Dr. Pablo Schlisermann contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. PROIMI Biotecnología-CONICET, LIEMEN-División Control Biológico de Plagas, Av. Belgrano y Pje. Caseros, T4001MVB San Miguel de Tucumán (4000), Tucumán, Argentina

    Juan Rull, Solana Abraham & Sergio Ovruski

  2. CITCA - CONICET- UNCA Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Catamarca, Prado 366, (K4700AAP), San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca, Catamarca, Argentina

    Pablo Schlisermann

  3. Fundación Miguel Lillo, and Unidad Ejecutora Lillo, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Miguel Lillo 251, T4000JFE, San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina

    Mariano Ordano

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  1. Juan Rull
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  2. Solana Abraham
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  3. Pablo Schlisermann
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  4. Mariano Ordano
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  5. Sergio Ovruski
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Correspondence to Juan Rull.

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Rull, J., Abraham, S., Schlisermann, P. et al. Mating Behavior and Basic Biology of Haywardina cuculi (Diptera: Tephritidae), a Poorly Known Species Exhibiting High Variability in Copulation Duration. J Insect Behav 30, 439–453 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-017-9629-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-017-9629-x

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