Abstract

To determine the effect of some physic-chemical parameters of fruits such as fruit weight, fruit diameter, thickness and the essential oil content of the peel, we followed the infestation by C. capitata Wied. 1824 (Diptera:Tephritidae), of ten fruit varieties: Oranges Thomson, Hamlin, Double Fine and Valencia late, lemons quatre saisons, apricot Bulida peaches Cardinal and Redhaven and figs Taghanimth, and Thâamrount. The physical-chemical parameters of fruits (weight, diameter, thickness of the bark and essential oil yield) are significantly correlated. They are negatively correlated with the average number of pupae / fruit. No correlation was observed between these parameters and the rate of fruit attacked and the number of attack per fruit.

Key words: Medfly, preference, essential oils, weight, diameter, thickness of the peel, fruit variety.