Bacteria as a natural source of food for adult fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae).

Bacteria isolated from crops and stomachs of adult fruit flies feeding on mulberry fruit and leaf surfaces were cultured on agar and proved highly attractive to adult fruit flies and provided them with virtually a complete breeding diet. Diets of bacteria, sugar and water gave equal longevity and increased fecundity in Dacus tryoni (Froggatt) compared with the conventional diet of autolysed brewer's yeast, sugar and water. The type and abundance of leaf and fruit surface bacteria appears to be an important factor in the life history of tropical fruit flies.