Solid phase microextraction of volatile emissions of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae): influence of fly sex, age, and mating status.

Considerable efforts have been devoted to understanding the courtship behavior and pheromone communication of medflies; however, the sex pheromone composition is still a controversial subject. The discovery of new components affecting medfly behavior would be of interest for medfly control methods based on semiochemicals. This work describes volatile compounds emitted by Ceratitis capitata collected using solid phase microextraction. The volatile study was conducted according to an experimental design with three factors (sex, age, and mating status) assumed to be relevant for better understanding the chemical communication. Emission data were treated by means of principal component analysis, a statistical methodology not previously applied to the study of volatiles emitted by fruit flies. The characterization of emission patterns could be useful for the selection of compounds to be further investigated in biological assays to improve knowledge of the key semiochemicals involved in medfly behavior.