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Bioscience Methods 2014, Vol.5, No.3, 1-11
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Research Article Open Access
Seasonal phenology of
Bactrocera invadens
(Drew, Tsuruta and White) and
Ceratitis
cosyra
(Walker) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Northern Ghana
Badii Kongyeli Benjamin
1
, Billah Maxwell Kelvin
2
, Afreh-Nuamah Kwame
3
, Obeng-Ofori Daniel
4
1. Department of Agronomy, University for Development Studies, P. O. Box TL 1882, Tamale, Ghana
2. Department of Animal Biology and Conservation Sciences, University of Ghana, P. O. Box LG 44, Legon, Ghana
3,4. Department of Crop Science, University of Ghana, P. O. Box LG 44, Legon, Ghana
Corresponding author email: Email
Tel: +233243503313
Bioscience Methods, 2014, Vol.5, No.3 doi: 10.5376/bm.2014.05.0003
Received: 05 Oct., 2014
Accepted: 18 Nov., 2014
Published: 02 Dec., 2014
Copyright
©
2014 Badii et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article:
Badii et al., 2014, Seasonal phenology of
Bactrocera invadens
(Drew, Tsuruta and White) and
Ceratitis cosyra
(Walker) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Northern
Ghana, Bioscience Methods, Vol.5, No.3 1
-
11 (doi
Abstract
Sustainable management of fruit flies in any given ecology requires proper understanding of the population dynamics of
key species in relation to host availability and the influence of abiotic factors. Studies were conducted to determine the phonological
patterns of
B. invadens
and
C. cosyra
in the northern savanna ecology of Ghana. Fruit samples from 12 main host plants were
collected from multiple sites at regular intervals between October, 2011 and September, 2013. These were maintained for pupal and
adult fly emergence, and the results compared with the seasons and whether parameters. The widespread variability and abundance of
fruit species in the ecology ensured year-round breeding of
B. invadens
and
C. cosyra
with different seasonal population levels.
Dynamics of emergence of the flies fluctuated at various levels in response to availability of the host fruits and the influence of
weather factors. Regression analysis indicated that precipitation showed the strongest influence on the fly populations. Infestation of
B. invadens
was positively related with temperature, relative humidity (RH) and precipitation while
C. cosyra
infestation was
negatively related with RH. These studies provide baseline information on the natural anundance and occurrence periods of the main
hosts and their influence on tephritid population patterns in Ghana. This can be useful in the development of sustainable control
programmes by way of developing forecasting models for IPM decision making, applying sanitary measures, male annihilation
techniques and setting up bait stations at the best period before the cropping season.
Keywords
Tephritid species; occurrence pattern; host plants; climatic factors; savanna ecology
Introduction
The horticultural industry in sub-Saharan Africa is
confronted with several constraints including the
incidence of pests and diseases (Norman, 2003). The
fruit and vegetable production sector in particular is
threatened with infestation by fruit fly pests (Lux et al.,
2003). Tephritid fruit flies are considered to be of
greatest concern owing to their extensive damage and
economic losses to major fruit and vegetable crops,
coupled with their quarantine status (White and
Elson-Harris, 1992; Ishida et al., 2005; De Meyer et al.,
2007). Economically important fruit fly pests in Africa
belong to the genera
Bactrocera, Ceratitis, Dacus and
Trirhithrum
(De Mayer et al., 2007). Most species of
these genera are highly polyphagous, attacking several
cultivated and wild fruits and vegetable crops (De
Mayer et al., 2007). In Ghana, the earlier fruit flies
observed to be of major concern were
C. capitata
(Wiedman) which attack citrus (Afreh-Nuamah, 1999),
and
C. cosyra
(Walker) which attacked mango (Lux et
al., 2003). However, the arrival of the African invader
fly,
B. invadens
(Drew et al., 2005) has jeopardized the
situation in the fruit and vegetable production sector
(Lux et al., 2003; Vayssieres et al., 2005; Drew et al.,
2005; Billah et al., 2006). In the northern part of Ghana
in particular, production of major fruit and vegetable
crops such as mango, water melons, tomato, peppers
and the cucurbits has been severely hit with heavy
losses from fruit fly attack.
Harrington et al. (1999) noted that plant susceptibility
to insects depends on the phenological synchrony
between the insect and the host plant. In turn, a
suitable plant for the development of insect
populations can often escape herbivory infestation and
damage by its occurrence in time and space (Fahrig,
2003; Klapwijk and Lewis, 2008). This might be