How do female pest tephritids behave during male courtship?_RAW DATA

Fruit flies exhibit a complex mating ritual in which males display acoustic, visual, and/or chemical signals to increase their mating success. Females play a central role in this process by discriminating among males, evaluating them during courtship, and deciding whether to accept copulation. However, female responses to male courtship remain poorly understood. Investigating female behaviors during male courtship may enhance our understanding of reproductive behavior in fruit flies by revealing which responses are most beneficial for male mating success. The present study aimed to characterize female behaviors during male courtship and identify those associated with mating success, using three economically important fruit fly species as models: Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann), Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart), and Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). Using video recordings, we described and analyzed the behavioral units and sequences displayed by females during male courtship. We compared the relative frequency of each behavioral unit between copulating and non-copulating females within each species and examined differences in behavioral sequence length and duration across species.

果蝇拥有一套复杂的交配仪式，雄性个体在此过程中会展现声学、视觉及化学信号，以提升自身的交配成功率。雌性个体在该过程中发挥核心作用，它们会对雄性进行甄别、在求偶期间对雄性进行评估，并最终决定是否接受交配。然而，目前学界对雌性针对雄性求偶的响应机制仍知之甚少。探究雄性求偶过程中的雌性行为，可通过明确哪些响应对雄性交配成功率最为有利，从而加深我们对果蝇生殖行为的认知。本研究以三种具有经济重要性的果蝇作为模式物种，旨在刻画雄性求偶期间的雌性行为特征，并甄别出与交配成功率相关的行为类型，所选用的模式物种分别为南美按实蝇（Anastrepha fraterculus，Wiedemann）、褐按实蝇（Anastrepha obliqua，Macquart）以及地中海实蝇（Ceratitis capitata，Wiedemann）。本研究通过视频录制手段，对雌性在雄性求偶期间展现的行为单元与行为序列进行了描述与分析。我们比较了各物种内交配成功与未交配成功雌性的各类行为单元的相对发生频率，并分析了不同物种间行为序列的长度与持续时长的差异。