Larger Egg Clutches Following Host Deprivation in Colonized Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) females that had been held without access to an oviposition site (unexposed) and then presented with a host fruit laid larger egg clutches on the first ovi position than did counterparts pre-exposed to a host fruit. Subsequent ovipositions by initially unexposed females resulted in clutches of the same size as those laid by pre-exposed. The history of the host exposure of the female was more important than the number of mature ovarian eggs in determining the clutch size.