Abstract

PEREIRA, Mônica J. B.; ANJOS, Norivaldo dos  and  EIRAS, Álvaro E.. Cortejo y cópula en la broca de la semilla de guanábana Bephratelloides pomorum (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae). Rev. biol. trop [online]. 1998, vol.46, n.1, pp.105-108. ISSN 0034-7744.

Adults of soursop seed borer Bephratelloides pomorum (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) were collected from fruits in Maceió, State of Alagoas, Brazil. The courtship and copulation behaviours of B. pomorum were described under 27.6 ± 0.1±C, R.H. of 77.50 ± 0.8%. A virgin couple of B. pomorum was placed daily in a glass cage for observing the courtship and copulation behaviour during a period of 12 days. This procedure was repeated ten times by using groups of 10 to 12 virgin couples per replicate. The observations for each replicate were ended after the first copulation. In general, males emerged first and newly emerged females elicited male courtship and mating behaviours. The behavioural patterns of males consisted of well-defined sequences such as approaching to female, wing fanning, regulatory body movements, copulation, rubbing aedeago on female abdome, antennae and mouthparts grooming.

Keywords : Mating behaviour; seed borer; courtship; soursop; pheromone.