VARIATION IN THE INTERMITTENT BUZZING SONGS OF MALE MEDFLIES (DIPTERA: TEPHRITIDAE) ASSOCIATED WITH GEOGRAPHY, MASS-REARING, AND COURTSHIP SUCCESS

Many aspects of the temporal pattern of sounds produced during the intermittent buzzing displays of pre-copulatory courtship by male medflies varied between wild flies from Costa Rica, Argentina, and Hawaii, and between mass-reared flies from Costa Rica, Argentina, Mexico, and Hawaii. There were no consistent differences when mass-reared strains were compared with the wild strains from the area where they originated in Costa Rica, Argentina and Hawaii. Buzzing sounds produced prior to successful mounting attempts did not differ consistently from those preceding unsuccessful mounts in flies from Costa Rica and Argentina. In strains from all sites, however, courtships in which buzzes were interrupted were more likely not to result in mounting of the female. There was a weak tendency for interruptions to be more common in mass-reared strains.