First study of ovipositional preference and developmental performance of Bactrocera oleae (Diptera: Tephritidae) in an arid zone (Laghouat: Algeria)

The present study evaluated the susceptibility of varieties (Sevillano, Sigoise, Chemlal and Dahbia) to Bactrocera oleae and their infestation rates by studying some physical characteristics of fruits and evaluated the performance of B. oleae in these varieties in an arid zone (Algeria). Results showed that Dahbia variety, the recorded more infestation in 2020 than in 2019. While Sevillano showed maximum infestation in 2020 with highest MI and larger olives, and Chemlal with smaller olives showed minimum infestation. Maturity, weight, volume having a positive correlation with the infestation for all varieties, while roundness at length was significantly and positively correlated with infestation only for Dahbia. Dahbia has had the poor performance to the total number of pupae produced and the mean number of individuals per olive. The pupation time varied by temperature but not with varieties. The percentage of emerged adults was high for all varieties. Sex ratio and parasitism rate was no significant difference between varieties or lots. Finally, the susceptibility of varieties to B. oleae contributes to the invasion of this pest in the arid zone in Algeria.