Artificial rearing of the Mediterranean fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae): size of oviposition holes

We studied the use of netting with large (2.2 mm2) to small (0.1 mm2, similar to diameter of ovipositor) holes as ovipositional substrates for the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). Over a 6-wk period, about twice as many eggs were retrieved from a female each day with the 0.1-mm2 netting (33 eggs) as from the 2.2-mm2 netting (17 eggs). When a net combining 0.3- and 1.0-mm2 holes was used, more than 90% of the ovipositions were made through the small holes. Small-hole oviposition nets increased the sticking of eggs on the net significantly: 40% of the eggs stuck on the 0.1-mm2 net, whereas only 16% remained on the 2.2-mm2 net. The 0.3-1.0-mm2, combined-hole net had very low egg sticking, probably because small holes alternated with large ones. When we sprayed a lubricant-release agent on the 0.1-mm2 net, egg sticking was reduced by about half, without affecting insect survival, egg production, or the number of eggs that hatched. A sugar-water solution brushed on the oviposition net resulted in variable egg production