Chemoecological Study on the Semiochemicals Controlling Behavior of Tephritid Fruit Flies

绦虫果蝇的雄性对植物产生的特定化学物质有很强的亲和力。东方果蝇小实蝇（Bactrocera dorsalis）（及其复杂物种中的一些）对甲基丁香酚和一些相关的苯丙素具有强烈的吸引力，这些苯丙素常被用作花香或植物成分。以引诱剂为食的雄鱼选择性地将这些化合物转化为吸引雌鱼的信息素，并将它们储存在直肠腺中。有苯丙素气味的雄性比没有气味的雄性更成功地交配，这表明获得化合物在交配成功方面的优势。桃背蝇对苯丙素的食药性获取似乎是在性选择的背景下进化而来的，尤其是雌性偏爱带有植物化学物质气味的雄性。另一方面，α - copaene是一种对地中海头角蝇（ceritis capitata）雄蝇的强效引诱剂，在包括其主要宿主如橙子、番石榴和芒果在内的各种植物的精油中被发现是一种次要成分。尽管有这种特殊的吸引力，但雄性果蝇从不以完整的化合物为食，因此α -copaene的生物学意义尚不清楚。在实验室试验中，用(+)- α -copaene处理的塑料叶片模型人工诱导了金盏花的韭菜样行为。在短期生物测定中还发现，α -copaene影响了未交配雌虫引发的“伪雄”求偶行为。交配只发生在经过α -copaene处理的人造叶子上，这表明这种化合物可能是一种化学线索，有助于苍蝇定向到宿主栖息地的会合地点。

Males of tephritid fruit fly species show strong affinity to specific chemicals produced by plants. The oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis(and several within its complex species), are strongly attracted to methyl eugenol and some related phenylpropanoids often found as flower fragrances or plant constituents. Males that fed on the attractants selectively converted the compounds into female-attracting pheromone and stored them in the rectal glands. Males scented with the phenylpropanoids were more successful in mating than unscented males, indicating the advantage of acquiring the compound (s) in mating success. Pharmacophagous acquisition of phenylpropanoids by B.dorsalis seems to have evolved within the context of sexual selection, particularly female preference for males "scented" with chemicals derived from plants.On the other hand, alpha-Copaene, a potent attractant for males of Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, is found as a minor component in the essential oils of various plant species including its major hosts such as orange, guava and mango. Despite such specific attraction, the male flies never feed on the intact compound and hence the biological significance of alpha-copaene remains unknown. In laboratory tests, lek-like behavior of C.capitata was induced artificially using a plastic leaf model treated with(+)-alpha-copaene. It was also found that alpha-copaene affected virgin females provoking 'pseudomale'courtship behavior in the short-range bioassay. Mating occurred exclusively on the artificial leaves treated with alpha-copaene, suggesting the compound serves potentially as one of the chemical cues to facilitate orientation of the flies to the rendezvous site in their host habitat.