Development, Reproductive Output and Population Growth of the Fruit Fly Pest Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) on Artificial Diet

Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) is a fruit pest of Asian origin that invaded North America in 2008. Despite the widespread economic impact of this species, much of the biology and general life history of this pest remains largely unknown. Under optimal laboratory conditions (22 degrees C, approximate to 25% relative humidity), wemeasured development, survival, fecundity, hatch rate, and sex ratio of a North American ecotype of D. suzukii. Life history traits were used to construct a life table and reproductive schedule, and to calculate the intrinsic rate of population increase. The mean (+/- SE) total lifespan (egg to adult mortality) was 86.1 +/- 4.25 d, with a maximum value of 153.7 d. On average, females produced 5.7 +/- 0.24 eggs per day, with a mean total lifetime production of 635.6 eggs. The gross reproductive rate was 317.8 daughter eggs per female and the net reproductive rate was 240.4 daughter eggs per female. The intrinsic rate of natural increase was 0.179. The stable age distribution (c(x)) was comprised of 51% larvae, 25% eggs, 16% pupae, and 8% adults. The sex ratio over time was approximate to 1:1. We conclude with a comparison of our data with previous work on D. suzukii and other Drosophila, and discuss the implications for control and monitoring of this pest.