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Title: INFLUENCE OF ADULT DIET ON THE MATING SUCCESS AND SURVIVAL OF MALE MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT FLIES (DIPTERA: TEPHRITIDAE) FROM TWO MASS-REARING STRAINS ON FIELD-CAGED HOST TREES

Author
item SHELLY, T - APHIS WAIMANALO
item McInnis, Donald

Submitted to: Florida Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/15/2003
Publication Date: 12/30/2003
Citation: Shelly, T.E., Mcinnis, D.O. 2003. Influence of adult diet on the mating success and survival of male mediterranean fruit flies (diptera: tephritidae) from two mass-rearing strains on field-caged host trees. Florida Entomologist. 86:340-344.

Interpretive Summary: Improving the mating ability of released sterile males is a critical part of the sterile insect release method. The effects of various treatments can be evaluated in outdoor filed cages to assess their influence on sterile male mating and survival quality against wile male counterparts. Using field cages covering individual host trees in Hawaii, an adult diet, either protein and sugar, or just sugar, was fed to lab-reared flies of 2 strains- a normal strain that produces both sexes, and a genetic sexing strain that produces only males for release following a heat treatment in the egg stage. Wild males outcompeted lab males from either strain raised on either diet, such that the adult diet had no significant influence on mating success of sterile males in the cages. In addition, there was no effect of diet on the survival ability of either strain.

Technical Abstract: Using field-cages host trees, this study investigated the influence of adult diet on the mating success and survival of male Mediterranean fruit flies, Ceratitis capitata (Wied.), from two mass-rearing strains. Upon emergence, males from a genetic sexing (temperature sensitive lethal) strain and a bisexual strain were given either a sugar-protein diet (protein-fed) or a sugar-only diet (protein-deprived). Mating trials were conducted using field-caged host trees, and 100 males of a given strain and diet competed with 100 wild males for matings with 100 wild females (all wild flies were given the sugar-protein diet). There was no apparent effect of diet on male mating success for either mass-reared strain. Wild males obtained significantly more mating per replicate than males from either strain on either diet, and the mean number of matings per replicate was similar between protein-fed and protein-deprived males for both strains. In addition, the survival of protein-fed and protein-deprived males was compared over 2- and 4-day intervals on field-caged host trees. Within each mass reared strain, there was no apparent effect of adult diet on male survival for either test interval. The present findings are-compared with similar studies on other mass-reared strains.