Richard Mankin, Mentor

Jeffrey Barrientos using a rubber suction tube to selectively remove female Carribbean fruit flies from the screen cage, and place them in the temporary holding jar on his left.

Jeffrey's project examined what effect the song of the male Caribbean fruit fly (Anastrepha suspensa) would have on female Caribbean fruit fly behavior.  Specifically, he examined the hypothesis that acoustic playback of the male's song, directed through a funnel toward an artificial leaf, would increase the time spent by females on the leaf.  A video camera and recorder were used to record the time spent on the leaf both with and without the sound playback.  The results of this study could aid in the development of new ways to lure and trap fruit flies in the wild.

Releasing the captured flies into a cage of females only.

The video setup used by Jeffrey in one of the sound insulated chambers at CMAVE.  Sound of the male Caribfly is played through the black funnel at the back of the cage, while the artificial leaf near its opening is videotaped.

Closeup view of the white paper 'leaf' with the funnel directing male Caribfly song toward it.