Fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and their hosts in the municipality of Quixeré, state of Ceará, Brazil

Abstract

The state of Ceará is one of the main producers and exporters of tropical fruits in Brazil. However, the farmers have some problems related with the fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae), because these tefritids cause damages to the fruits and the simple presence of some species makes difficult the export of fruits in natura. In the state of Ceará, information about fruit flies and their hosts in fruit producing regions are scarce, such as in the region of Baixo Jaguaribe. This region is located in the Brazilian semiarid and is composed of ten municipalities, among them the municipality of Quixeré. Therefore, the objective of this study was to know the species of fruit flies, their hosts and respective infestation index, in different places of the municipality of Quixeré. For this, fruits were randomly collected in different fruit trees (native and exotic), in the rural and urban area of Quixeré. The collected fruits were transported to the laboratory, where they were counted, weighed and stored in plastic trays on a layer of vermiculite. After seven days, the vermiculite was sieved and the pupae obtained were stored in plastic containers until the emergence of adults. Fruits of 21 species were sampled and only five were infested by fruit flies. The species obtained were Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), Anastrepha zenildae Zucchi, Anastrepha sororcula Zucchi and Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart). Guava Psidium guajava L. was the fruit that presented the highest rates of infestation.