Fruit flies (Diptera : Tephritidae) are the most damaging pests on fruit crops in Reunion island. Survival and development of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), the Natal fruit fly, C. rosa (Karsch) and the Mascarenes fruit fly, C. catoirii Guérin-Mèneville were compared at 5 constant temperatures from 15 to 35°C. The lower developmental threshold and the thermal constant were calculated using the temperature summation model. It has been noted that the species differ mainly at the larval stage and the ovarian maturation period whereas few differences are found at the egg stage. C. rosa seems to be better adapted to low temperatures than the two other species. C. catoirii has a low survival rate on the overall range of temperature studied. The different responses of the three Ceratitis species at various temperatures may explain to some extent their distribution in the island. The results obtained will be used for optimising laboratory rearing methods. Furthermore, our data will be useful for constructing computer simulation models to predict fruit flies population dynamics.