Biology of Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) on commercial cultivars of mandarin in Mazandaran province

Fruit flies (Diptera: Tephrtidae) is the most important pest causing damage to citrus fruit trees in the north of Iran. Biology of C. capitata was investigated on five mandarin cultivars under laboratory condition at temperature 27±1 OC, 70±5 RH and photo period 14L: 10D in control unit of Iran citrus research institute greenhouse in 2011. The result indicated that the mean developmental time of eggs under laboratory conditions on Page, Celementin, Onsho, Unesi and Yashar cultivars was 2.5±0.15, 1.8±0.2, 1.3±0.2, 2.4±0.18 and 2.7±0.12 days, respectively. The mean of larval period ranged from 9.8±0.2 days on Unesi to 12±0.22 days on page. Also, the experiments showed that there were no significant differences between pupal duration and pupae weight on mandarin cultivars. The mean developmental time for entire immature stages on Page, Celementin, Onsho, Unesi and Yashar was 27±0.52, 24.1±0.65, 22±0.57 25±0.65 and 26.5±0.47 days, respectively.