The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), showed a distinct preference for a dry habitat (<80 cm/yr rainfall) as determined by trap catches, fruit collections, and rearing from fruits in wet and dry habitats. Very few flies were caught in traps in wet areas (> 180 cm/yr rainfall) on the island of Oahu, but they were persistent in dry areas, particularly Makaha Valley. The mean infestation rate was 0.21 and 33.5 flies per kilogram of coffee in wet and dry areas. Dissection of coffee collected in the field showed that larval recoveries per 100 fruits were equal in wet and dry areas, but larval mortality was statistically higher in wet areas; the larvae apparently die from decay of the fruit, especially if they crack open. We conclude that C. capitata and Dacus dorsalis Hendel distribution and abundance are directly affected by the elimination of preferred host fruits and indirectly by climate causing differential effects on their survival in coffee and other fruits in wet versus dry areas.
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Harris et al. (1989) studied this question.