Functional significance of the capitate supra-fronto-orbital bristles of male medflies (Ceratitis capitata) (Diptera, Tephritidae)

Experimental removal of the sexually dimorphic supra-fronto-orbital bristles from male Ceratitis capitata lowered the chances that courting males would succeed in mounting females. Bristle removal did not affect male courtship behavior, and females often did not contact male bristles, so the male bristles probably function as visual display devices, despite the surprising fact that neither placement of the bristles nor courtship behavior are appropriate to display either the bristles' exaggerated length or the expansions at their tips to full effect. Indirect evidence suggests that male eye colors are also important in courtship, but that bristle asymmetry is not.