Courtship and mating behavior of the Chinese chive fly,bradysia odoriphaga (diptera: Sciaridae) and evidence of female sex pheromone

The chinese chive fly,bradysia odoriphaga is a serious insect pest to damage vegetables,such as chinese chives (allium tuberosum) and mushrooms throughout china. to develop behavioral control method for adults of the pest,the observations on its courtship and mating behavioral activities were conducted under laboratory conditions. virgin male flies performed obviously courtship which includes orienting,wings extending and vibrating,chasing,and curling abdomen before mating. however,female flies performed orienting,wings extending and up-down abdomen. further,male flies performed chasing and mating more at night,and wing vibration more during the day. courtship and mating mostly occurred within 3 days after emergence,and male courtship and mating activities declined significantly with age. the extracts of female body tails attracted male flies,in contrast,the extracts of male body tails did not attract females. our results suggest that b. odoriphaga male performs obvious courtship behavior which may be evoked by the sex pheromone released by female flies. our results may improve the program of integrated management of the pest by development of the use of sex pheromones in mating disruptions or trap-and-kill methods,to alternate the opposed one to employing insecticides in the soil to control larvae based on the understanding of the fly's courtship and mating behaviors. © copyright 2016 zoological society of pakistan.