African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 2(3), pp. 105-111, March, 2007

ISSN 1991- 637X­© 2007 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Effects of the soil texture and the burying depth of the larvae on some biological parameters of Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Trypetidae)

Ali Ahmed D¹, Soltani N ², Kellouche A^1*, Mazouzi F¹

¹Faculty of Biological sciences and Agronomique sciences, Mouloud MAMMERI University, 15000 TIZI OUZOU (Algeria).

²Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of sciences, B. MOKHTAR University, 23000 ANNABA (Algeria).

 *Corresponding author. Email:  kader_kellouche@yahoo.fr  Tel: 213 93 27 79 73.

Accepted 16 February, 2007

We have studied the effect of the soil texture and the different depths on the emergence rate, the duration of pupation and the sex-ratio of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata. Three different texture of soil have been tested: clay loam, silty clay loam and sandy loam. As far as the depth of burying of the larva is concerned, we have tested six varied depths from 2 to 20 cm.The results have shown that the silty clay loam texture reduces the emergence rate of C. Capitata but the sandy loam soil favours the pupation.  The tested depths of burying revealed a significant effect on the emergence rate. The lowest depths (from 2 to 10 cm) permit a high emergence rate. However, the sex-ratio seems to be not influenced by the nature of the soil and less by the depth of burying.

Key words: Ceratitis capitata, depth of burying, emergence, pupation, sex-ratio, soil texture.