Surveys of the western cherry fruit fly,Rhagoletis indifferens Curran, on sweet, sour, choke, and bitter cherries were made in eastern and western Washington from June through September. Overall, flies occurred in higher numbers on yellow sticky traps placed in sour cherry trees than in sweet cherry trees in 3 out of 4 comparisons in eastern Washington. Visual inspections of trees revealed the same pattern. However, early laboratory experiments indicate that flies collected from sour cherry trees did not prefer one type of fruit over the other; the same was true of flies from sweet cherry trees. Choke cherries in the eastern part of the state did not seem to be a host for the fly, whereas bitter cherries in the western part of the state were hosts. Studies are currently being completed to determine if there are host preference-fly performance relationships.
Species 1: Diptera Tephritidae Rhagoletis indifferens (Western Cherry Fruit Fly)
Keywords: Host preference, development
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