DIET SELECTION BY CERATITIS-CAPITATA LARVAE (DIPTERA, TEPHRITIDAE) - INFLUENCE OF THE REARING DIET AND GENETIC-FACTORS

Selection of two diets with adequate nutritive values, the first based on brewer's yeast and the second based on whole milk powder, were tested on newly hatched Ceratitis capitata larvae. The larvae chose the milk powder diet, regardless of the food on which the population was being bred. The preference of the larvae was modified only when the nutritive value of the milk powder diet became inadequate. When fed for 3 days with one of the two diets, the preference fell upon the one on which they were fed during this period (induction). When a population of larvae which preferred the brewer's yeast diet was formed, the choice for this diet increased over successive generations, indicating that genetic factors may influence the preference of larvae.