Males of the species respond strongly to methyl eugenol and this is used for monitoring and estimating populations.[2][3] They are also important pollinators/visitors of wild orchids, Bulbophyllum cheiri and Bulbophyllum vinaceum, in Southeast Asia, which lure the flies using methyl eugenol.[4][5]
References
^ Drew, R.A.I. & Raghu, S. (2002). The fruit fly fauna (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae) of the rainforest habitat of the Western Ghats, India. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 50(2):327-352. PDF (with description of B. dorsalis, and key to Indian Bactrocera species)
^ Tan, K.H. and Serit, M. (1994) Adult population dynamics of Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae) in relation to host phenology and weather in two villages of Penang Island, Malaysia. Environmental Entomology 23(2): 267-275.
^ Hee, A. K. W. & Tan, K. H. (2005) Bioactive fractions containing methyl eugenol-derived sex pheromonal components in haemolymph of the male fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae). Bull. entomol. res. 95(6):615-620
^ Tan, K.H., Nishida R. and Toong, Y.C. (2002) Bulbophyllum cheiri floral synomone lures fruit flies to perform pollination. J.Chem. Ecol. 28:1161-1172
^ Tan, K. H., Tan, L. T. and Nishida, R. (2006) Floral phenyl propanoid cocktail and architecture of Bulbophyllum vinaceum orchid in attracting fruit flies for pollination. J. Chem. Ecol. 32:2429-2441.
Further reading
Allwood, A.J., Chinajariyawong, A., Drew, R.A.I., et al. (1999) Host plant records for fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in south east Asia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 7:1-92.