Influence of host plant on the wing shape of Bactrocera cucurbitae and Bactrocera tau (Diptera: Tephritidae)

ABSTRACT

Bactrocera fruit flies are a significant pest of fruits and vegetables. Some of them are polyphagous and show rapid reproduction. Our study evaluated the impact of three host plants: bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula), and cucumber (Cucumis sativus) on the shape and size of the wings of Bactrocera cucurbitae and B. tau by using geometric morphometrics. The wings of females were significantly larger than those of males, and the wings of B. cucurbitae were significantly smaller than those of B. tau. Individuals feeding on different host plants did not differ significantly in wing size. Wing shape differed significantly both between sexes and between species. Differences in wing shape between males and females were larger than differences between B. cucurbitae and B. tau. Wing shape can be used to identify males and females of the two species without errors. Wing shape differed significantly between males of the two species feeding on cucumber and bottle gourd. Wing shape can be used to identify males of B. cucurbitae and B. tau feeding on those two host plants without errors.

KEYWORDS:

• Fruit fly
• Bactrocera
• geometric morphometrics
• wing
• host plant

Acknowledgments

The research was financially supported by the JK Science Technology and Innovation Council, Department of Science and Technology.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Zenodo at http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10636624. (Ganie et al. 2024). We provide both landmark coordinates and wing images, which can be used to extend the identification in the future to include a larger number of species and host plants. Statistical analysis is provided in Supplemental Document 1.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00305316.2024.2369095.