Oviposition Suitability of Drosophila Suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) for Nectarine Varieties and Its Correlation with the Physiological Indexes

The nectarine is an important fruit, which is attacked by Drosophila suzukii in Europe and the United States but there are no reports of it attacking nectarines in China. Here, we determined the oviposition preference of D. suzukii six on intact and sliced nectarine varieties in China and how physical and physiological indexes of the fruit correlate with these preferences. D. suzukii were allowed to oviposit on two early–, two middle– and two late–maturing varieties of nectarine—Shuguang and Chunguang, Fengguang and Zhong you 4, Zhong you 7 and Zhong you 8, respectively and the number of larvae also followed the order. The firmness, soluble solids content and the nutritional components of the amino acid, protein, soluble sugar and pectin contents of each variety were measured. D. suzukii preferred the early Shuguang variety, followed by the early Chunguang variety and then the middle Zhong you 4 and Fengguang varieties. Taken together, results show that D. suzukii shows preferences for earlier rather than later varieties of nectarines in China and that these preferences are related to the fruit’s physical and physiological traits. Results suggest that mixed cultivation of early–, middle– and late–maturing nectarine varieties should be avoided in order to prevent fly dispersal and infestation by D. suzukii.