This award will support collaborative research between Prof. Ronald J. Prokopy of the University of Massachusetts, and Dr. Brian Fletcher of the Entomology Division of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Office, Canberra, and Dr. R.A.I. Drew of the Queensland Department of Primary Industry, Australia. The investigators will perform a comparative analysis of natural sources of food and feeding behavior of apple maggot flies in the U.S., and Queensland fruit flies in Australia, and use the information obtained to improve food-lure baits and bait spray practices for fly management. The project combines the expertise of the Australian investigators in the study of natural sources of food and microorganisms ingested as food by fruit flies with the U.S. expertise in the experimental analysis of the behavior of fruit flies in foraging for food. This study will provide the foundation for a comprehensive understanding of all facets of resource foraging behavior in the American and Queensland fruit flies, and could serve as a model for future work on multiple-resource-type foraging behavior in insects. The ultimate objective, of course, is improved control of these obnoxious pests.
