J Insect Behav (2016) 29:719–734 DOI 10.1007/s10905-016-9591-z
Long Term Feeding Patterns Highlight Preference for Sucrose in the Fruit Fly Anastrepha serpentina When Given a Choice over Other More Nutritious Food Sources Martín Aluja 1 & Larissa Guillén 1 & Isabel Jácome 2 & Nicoletta Righini 1
Revised: 15 November 2016 / Accepted: 23 November 2016 / Published online: 2 December 2016 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016
Abstract Insects are known to be able to regulate food ingestion according to its nutrient composition rather than its energetic content. Several studies have found that individuals can feed selectively when given the opportunity, and balance the intake of different nutrients so as to optimize fitness. However, there are cases in which individuals do not strictly adopt this pattern of optimal nutrient balancing. This study examined the periodicity of feeding on different food substrates and also water by adult individuals of Anastrepha serpentina (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae) over a 38day observation period analyzing daily feeding patterns, feeding time, and sequences of feeding events. Two artificial food substrates, one rich in protein (hydrolyzed yeast) and one rich in carbohydrates (sucrose), and one natural diet (open sapodilla fruit) were offered alone or paired (sucrose vs. open fruit or sucrose vs. yeast) to newly emerged individuals during 38 days or until death. Water was also provided in all cases. Our results provide new and interesting insights on long-term individual dietary preferences and feeding periodicity in a tropical fruit fly, including water consumption. In general, flies exhibited different feeding patterns according to the diet, but preferred to feed on sucrose when offered a choice of sucrose and yeast. This preference was evident from the outset of the trial. When sucrose was offered together with an open fruit, the latter was preferred. However, there were conspicuous individual differences in temporal feeding patterns among flies fed the same diet, including variability in the number of consecutive days some individuals did not consume any food or water (up to five days Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10905-016-9591-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
* Martín Aluja
[email protected]
1
Red de Manejo Biorracional de Plagas y Vectores, Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Clúster Científico y Tecnológico BioMimic®, 91070, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
2
Cooperative Research and Extension, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, MO 65101, USA
