[leave for Adam - compressed file]The mating system and courtship behaviour of the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Queensland fruit fly is Australia’s most destructive horticultural insect pest. The flies need to mate to successfully reproduce, but there remained significant gaps in knowledge about how they find and select mates. I showed that male and female flies likely use physical landmarks to find each other in the environment. Having found potential mates, I described their fine-scale courtship behaviour and demonstrated that young, large male flies are most successful at securing a mate. I also made significant advances in our understanding of the potential for close-range chemical communication to play a role in mate identification and selection. This research directly informs sustainable management strategies against this pest