Courtship behavior of wild and mass-reared Mediterranean fruit fly (Diptera : Tephritidae) males from Argentina

We analyzed the courtship behavior of wild and mass-reared strains of the M editerranean fruit ny, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), by means of video re cording. Males of both strains were placed with wild females. The proportio n of males successful in copulating with females did not differ significant ly between strains. However, the mass-reared strain spent significantly les s time in activities not directly leading to mating and succeeded in copula ting more quickly than the wild strain. This apparent advantage of the mass -reared strain under experimental conditions may have originated through se xual selection as a response to the particular conditions of mass rearing.