Consumption of Sugars by Anastrepha suspensa (Diptera: Tephritidae)

We were interested in determining the feeding response of the Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa (Loew) (Diptera: Tephritidae), to various sugar concentrations to develop an improved bait for adults. We compared the consumption of 0.01–1.00 M concentrations of glucose, fructose, raffinose, and sucrose in no-choice tests for 24-h- and 6-d-old male and female flies. Sucrose was the most consumed sugar or within the most consumed group of sugars at 0.02–0.20 M concentrations. There were no differences in consumption among sugars at 0.01, 0.40, and 1.00 M. Consumption generally increased with increasing sugar concentration except that sucrose consumption peaked at 0.20 M. Twenty-four-hour-old females consumed less fructose than other sugars; 24-h-old males consumed more sucrose than fructose or raffinose with an intermediate response to glucose. Females in the 6-d-old group consumed more sucrose than the other three sugars, whereas 6-d-old males exhibited no difference in consumption among sugars. In choice tests, flies consumed more sugar solution than water, but the difference between 0.20 M fructose and water was not significant for 24-h-old males or females. In choice tests between 0.20 M fructose and 0.20 M sucrose, both 24-h- and 6-d-old females showed a preference for fructose. Males of both age classes showed no preference. These results indicate that the responses of flies to different sugars can vary by sugar, gender, and age.