MANGO RESISTANCE TO FRUIT FLIES. I VARIETAL SELECTION AND MECHANISMS OF RESISTANCE

A broad variability exists among varieties of Mangifera indica for fruit flies resistance.
There are varieties with less than 10% infested fruits and others with almost 100% infestation.
It is demonstrated that resistance to fruit flies is compatible with fruit quality and productivity and varietal selection for resistance to fruit flies is viable and should be one of the objectives of all mango breeding programmes.
The mechanisms of resistance were investigated.
When fruits of resistant and susceptible mango varieties were confined in a cage with adult fruit flies, the field behavior of these varieties was repeated and confirmed.
Oviposition attempts of the female adult flies on resistant and susceptible varieties observed under cage conditions, demonstrated that non preference for oviposition is an important mechanism of resistance of mango to fruit flies and it is positively correlated with the number of pupae developed.
When eggs of Ceratitis capitata were artificially inserted directly into the fruit pulp of a resistant variety, the resistance was broken.
The results indicate that the main factors of resistance of mangoes to fruit flies are in the fruit peel and not in the fruit pulp.

VIII International Mango Symposium

C.J. Rossetto, N. Bortoletto, C.R.L. Carvalho, J.V. de Castro, J.M.M. Walder, N.L. Nogueira, V. Arthur, L.A. Lopes

Mangifera indica, Anastrepha, Ceratitis capitata, Tephritidae, pest resistance, varietal resistance, mango breeding

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2009.820.73