Oriented flight responses of female Mediterranean fruit flies to calling males, odor of calling males, and a synthetic pheromone blend

Male Mediterranean fruit flies, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), produce volatile chemicals thought to be attractive sex pheromones. We demonstrated for the first time that male odor elicits upwind flight and zigzagging upwind flight patterns in mature unmated females. Such flight patterns indicate the mechanisms involved in female location of the pheromone source and arrival at that source. Similar female oriented upwind flight responses occurred with a three component blend comprised of ethyl‐(E)‐octenoate, geranyl acetate, and E,E‐alpha farnesene. These findings clarify the role of male sex pheromone in mate‐location strategies in this species and provide new bioassay criteria for evaluating attraction responses to male pheromone and synthetic blends.