Fruit flies are among the most important pests of fruits and vegetables in the world. The invasive fruit fly
Bactrocera invadens
(Diptera: Tephritidae) was first detected in Africa in 2003 in Kenya. In Mozambique, it was
first recorded in 2007 in Niassa Province. Direct damage due to
B.invadens attack in African countries varies
between 30-80%, but in Mozambique such information is lacking. This study aimed at assessing fruit damage and
B. invadens infestation levels in different fruits in Mozambique. Four fruit fly species emerged from the collected
fruits:
Bactrocera invadens,
Ceratitis rosa
,
Ceratitis cosyra
and
Ceratitis capitata
.
Bactrocera invadens was the
most abundant species (97%), followed by
C. rosa (1.8%),
C. cosyra (1.1%) and
C. capitata (0.1%). The highest
damage was observed in guava (92.5% of fruits) followed by tropical almond (67.3%) and mango (56.5%). Mean
number of pupae/fruit and per kg was also higher in guava with 10.10±0.57 and 217.33±3.93, respectively.
Tropical almond had the highest number of
B. invadens/fruit (6.63±1.35) and per kg (157.24±7.35). The severity
of damage was high in all economically important hosts.
