Rakes Logan M, Delamont Megan, Cole Christine, Yates Jillian A, Blevins Lynsey Jo, Hassan Fatima Naureen, Bergland Alan O, Erickson Priscilla A
University of Richmond, Gottwald Center for the Sciences, 138 UR Drive, Richmond, VA 23173, USA.
University of Virginia, Physical and Life Sciences Building, 90 Geldard Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.
bioRxiv. 2023 Mar 25:2023.03.24.534156. doi: 10.1101/2023.03.24.534156.
The African fig fly, (Gupta), has spread globally from its native range in tropical Africa, becoming an invasive crop pest in select areas such as Brazil. was first reported in the United States in 2005 and has since been documented as far north as Canada. As a tropical species, is expected to have low cold tolerance, likely limiting its ability to persist at northern latitudes. In North America, the geographic regions where can thrive and seasonal fluctuations in its abundance are not well understood. The purpose of this study was to characterize the temporal and spatial variation in abundance to better understand its invasion of the eastern United States. We sampled drosophilid communities over the growing season at two orchards in Virginia from 2020-2022 and several locations along the East Coast during the fall of 2022. Virginia abundance curves showed similar seasonal dynamics across years with individuals first detected around July and becoming absent around December. Massachusetts was the northernmost population and no were detected in Maine. Variation in relative abundance was high between nearby orchards and across different fruits within orchards but was not correlated with latitude. Fitness of wild-caught females decreased later in the season and at higher latitudes. The patterns of abundance shown here demonstrate an apparent susceptibility to cold and highlight a need for systematic sampling to accurately characterize the range and spread of .
非洲榕小蜂（古普塔）已从其原产的热带非洲地区传播至全球，在巴西等特定地区成为一种入侵性作物害虫。2005年首次在美国被报道，此后在远至加拿大的北方地区也有记录。作为一种热带物种，预计其耐寒性较低，这可能限制了它在北纬地区的生存能力。在北美，非洲榕小蜂能够繁衍的地理区域以及其数量的季节性波动情况尚不清楚。本研究的目的是描述非洲榕小蜂数量的时空变化，以便更好地了解其对美国东部的入侵情况。我们在2020年至2022年期间在弗吉尼亚州的两个果园以及2022年秋季在东海岸的几个地点，在生长季节对果蝇群落进行了采样。弗吉尼亚州的数量曲线显示，多年来季节性动态相似，个体最早在7月左右被发现，12月左右消失。马萨诸塞州是最北部的种群，在缅因州未检测到非洲榕小蜂。在附近果园之间以及果园内不同果实之间，非洲榕小蜂的相对丰度变化很大，但与纬度无关。野生捕获的雌性个体的适合度在季节后期和较高纬度地区会降低。这里所示的非洲榕小蜂数量模式表明其明显易受寒冷影响，并突出了需要进行系统采样以准确描述其分布范围和扩散情况。
