Artificial Egging System for the European Cherry Fruit Fly2

Abstract
A simple technique is described for mass production and employment of plates of large numbers of ceresin wax domes as oviposition devices for Rhagoletis cemsi (L.). During their lifetime, 50 females deposited 12,903 eggs into these domes (an average of 258 eggs per female, yielding 234 larvae per female). This production proved 3-4 times greater than that from 2 other egging systems in current use and 1.6 times greater than the highest reported in the literature using fresh cherries as the oviposition medium. Individual ceresin domes had a remarkable longevity and retained 100% of their maximum potential effectiveness after receiving 50 eggs each and 68% of their potential even after 200 eggs each.