Genetic changes of life history and behavioral traits during mass-rearing in the melon Fly,Bactrocera cucurbitae (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Much light can be shed on life history evolution through study of responses of organisms to chronic exposure to a novel or perturbed environment. To determine the influence of 28 yr of temporally unpredictable thermal elevation on their life history patterns, I sampled eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) from a thermally elevated (outflow from a nuclear reactor) and an ambient (farm pond) habitat in South Carolina every month for 2 yr. Fish from the artificially heated environment reproduced all year, had higher reproductive investments (higher clutch sizes and reproductive biomass), and smaller offspring than did fish from the ambient environment, which ceased reproduction from October through March, typical for natural populations of the region. Likely environmental factors responsible for these differences include unpredictable food resources, higher mortality from thermal death, and higher predation by fishes and birds in the heated waters. The extent to which these life history alterations are the result of adaptive genetic changes versus phenotypically plastic responses remains to be tested.

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Impact of age, size, and sex on adult black soldier fly [Hermetia illucens L. (Diptera: Stratiomyidae)] thermal preference

Journal of Insects as Food and Feed ◽

10.3920/jiff2021.0076 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-12

Author(s):

N.F. Addeo ◽

C. Li ◽

T.W. Rusch ◽

A.J. Dickerson ◽

A.M. Tarone ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Thermal Gradient ◽

Life History Traits ◽

Animal Feed ◽

Mass Rearing ◽

Thermal Preference ◽

Black Soldier Fly ◽

Hermetia Illucens ◽

Surface Temperatures ◽

The Impact

Population growth and rapid urbanisation have increased the global demand for animal feed and protein sources. Therefore, traditional animal feed production should be increased through the use of alternative nutrient sources. Insects as feed are beginning to fill this need. One such insect is the black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens L. (Diptera: Stratiomyidae). However, to more effectively mass produce the black soldier fly, a better understanding of its thermal biology is needed. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of age, size, and sex on adult black soldier fly thermal preference. The thermal preference of adult black soldier flies was determined by exposing flies to a thermal gradient with a range of surface temperatures and monitoring their positions over time. An aluminium plate was used to create a linear thermal gradient where surface temperatures ranged from ~15-60 °C. Flies were distinguished by age (1-d-post-emergence vs 7-d-post-emergence), size (large vs small) and sex (male vs female) to assess whether thermal preference differed by specific life-history traits. Thermal preference for 7-d-post-emergence adults was significantly lower (19.2 °C) than 1-d-post-emergence adults (28.7 °C), respectively. Similarly, small adults selected significantly cooler (21.1 °C) temperatures than large adults (26.9 °C). No significant differences in thermal preferences were found between sex, regardless of age or size. In fact, males and females had similar thermal preference of 23.8 and 24.2 °C, respectively. This study reveals that multiple life-history traits of adult black soldier fly affect their thermal preference, and thus should be taken into consideration by mass rearing facilities to optimize production.

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Host plant accessions determine bottom-up effect of snapmelon (Cucumis melo var. momordica) against melon fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett))

Breeding Science ◽

10.1270/jsbbs.17065 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 68 (5) ◽

pp. 499-507 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Shravan Manbhar Haldhar ◽

Dilip Kumar Samadia ◽

Rakesh Bhargava ◽

Balu Ram Choudhary ◽

Dhurendra Singh

Keyword(s):

Host Plant ◽

Cucumis Melo ◽

Bactrocera Cucurbitae ◽

Bottom Up ◽

Melon Fly

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GENETIC CORRELATIONS BETWEEN LIFE-HISTORY AND BEHAVIORAL TRAITS CAN CAUSE REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION

Evolution ◽

10.1111/j.1558-5646.1999.tb05345.x ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 53 (1) ◽

pp. 201-208 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Takahisa Miyatake ◽

Toru Shimizu

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Reproductive Isolation ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Behavioral Traits

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Melon Fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Encyclopedia of Entomology ◽

10.1007/978-1-4020-6359-6_4542 ◽

2008 ◽

pp. 2332-2335

Author(s):

George Hangay ◽

Susan V. Gruner ◽

F. W. Howard ◽

John L. Capinera ◽

Eugene J. Gerberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bactrocera Cucurbitae ◽

Melon Fly

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Flight muscle and flight activity of melon fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Dhaka University Journal of Biological Sciences ◽

10.3329/dujbs.v30i2.54644 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 179-185

Author(s):

Farhana Ferdousi ◽

Shanjida Sultana ◽

Tangin Akter ◽

Pinakshi Roy ◽

Shefali Begum

Keyword(s):

Longitudinal Muscle ◽

Flight Muscle ◽

Flight Activity ◽

The Other ◽

Bactrocera Cucurbitae ◽

Male And Female ◽

Melon Fly ◽

Length Width ◽

Flight Muscles ◽

The Mean

The flight activity and flight muscle of the melon fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) (Diptera: Tephritidae) were observed. The Tethered technique was used to observe the flight activity in this study. The flight activity, and wing and flight muscles were compared between male and female melon flies. The results indicate that the female was relatively better and strong flier than the male. The mean duration of the flight activity of the females was 13.90 min/hour and of the males was 7.12 min./hour. The mean length, width, volume of wings of the males were 6.07 mm, 2.67 mm and 10.99 mm³, respectively. On the other hand, the mean length, width and volume of the wings of females were 7.07 mm, 2.87 mm and 15.60 mm³, respectively. In case of wing muscles, the mean volume of dorsal longitudinal muscle (DLM) in male and female was found 5.20 mm³ and 5.67 mm³, respectively. The mean length of flight wing muscle of male and female was 2.22 and 2.23 mm, respectively and the mean breadth of male and female was 1.65 and 1.77 mm, respectively. Dhaka Univ. J. Biol. Sci. 30(2): 179-185, 2021 (July)

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