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 Mediterranean fruit ny, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), by means of video recording. Males of both strains were placed with wild females. The proportion of males successful in copulating with females did not differ significantly between strains. However, the mass-reared strain spent significantly less time in activities not directly leading to mating and succeeded in copulating more quickly than the wild strain. This apparent advantage of the mass-reared strain under experimental conditions may have originated through sexual selection as a response to the particular conditions of mass rearing.