The effect of irradiation and mass rearing on the anti-predator behaviour of the Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens (Diptera: Tephritidae)

AbstractFruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) are major pests worldwide. The sterile insect technique, where millions of flies are reared, sterilized by irradiation and then released, is one of the most successful and ecologically friendly methods of controlling populations of these pests. The mating behaviour of irradiated and non-irradiated flies has been compared in earlier studies, but there has been little attention paid to the anti-predator behaviour of mass-reared flies, especially with respect to wild flies. Tephritid flies perform a supination display to their jumping spider predators in order to deter attacks. In this study, we evaluated the possibility of using this display to determine the anti-predator capabilities of mass-reared irradiated, non-irradiated flies, and wild flies. We used an arena setup and observed bouts between jumping spiders (Phidippus audax Hentz) and male Mexican fruit flies (Anastrepha ludens Loew). We show that although all flies performed a supination display to their predator, wild flies were more likely to perform a display and were significantly more successful in avoiding attack than mass-reared flies. We suggest that this interaction can be used to develop a rapid realistic method of quality control in evaluating anti-predator abilities of mass-reared fruit flies.

Download Full-text

Antipredator behavior of the new mass-reared unisexual strain of the Mexican Fruit Fly

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1017/s0007485315000966 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 106 (3) ◽

pp. 314-321 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

G. I. González-López ◽

D. Rao ◽

F. Díaz-Fleischer ◽

D. Orozco-Dávila ◽

D. Pérez-Staples

Keyword(s):

Antipredator Behavior ◽

Fruit Fly ◽

Mass Rearing ◽

Quality Parameters ◽

Quality Parameter ◽

Anastrepha Ludens ◽

Activity Levels ◽

Mexican Fruit Fly ◽

Lower Survival ◽

Baseline Activity

AbstractTephritid pests controlled through the sterile insect technique (SIT) are mass-reared and subsequently released in affected areas. Several quality parameters are currently used to test adults, but none take into account interactions with a predator. When sterile males are released in the field, they will need to avoid predators until they reach sexual maturity and survive long enough to mate with wild females. Spiders are one of the most common predators that flies may encounter in release sites. In this study, we evaluated the antipredator behavior of a mass-reared sterile unisexual strain (‘Tapachula-7’) of the Mexican fruit fly Anastrepha ludens (Diptera: Tephritidae) against their spider predators. We sampled spiders in citrus trees to determine which families could be more common. We established the baseline activity rates of sterile Tapachula-7 (Tap-7) flies in comparison with wild flies. We also tested the behavior of the fertile and sterile bisexual strain and wild flies against hunting spiders (Family Salticidae) and orb building spiders (Family Tetragnathidae). We recorded 18 spider families, with Salticidae being the most dominant. Tap-7 flies diminished their activity in comparison with wild males at 1800 h but showed similar activity levels earlier in the day. When exposed to orb-web spiders (Leucauge venusta), Tap-7, fertile and sterile males from the bisexual strain had similar rates of survival, but Tap-7 males showed lower survival than wild males. Against hunting spiders (Phidippus audax), wild males had higher probability of defensive wing displays, but there was no difference in spider attack rates. In general, sterile Tap -7 males performed as well as males from the bisexual strain, although they had lower survival than wild males. This could be due to either mass-rearing and/or irradiation effects. We recommend the use of the defensive wing display behavior as a quality parameter and propose a rapid and effective method to evaluate fly activity. The efficiency of SIT will be improved if released sterile males have the same antipredator repertoire as their wild counterparts.

Download Full-text

Tephritid-microbial interactions to enhance fruit fly performance in sterile insect technique programs

BMC Microbiology ◽

10.1186/s12866-019-1650-0 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (S1) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Ania T. Deutscher ◽

Toni A. Chapman ◽

Lucas A. Shuttleworth ◽

Markus Riegler ◽

Olivia L. Reynolds

Keyword(s):

Microbial Community ◽

Gut Microbiota ◽

Sterile Insect Technique ◽

Fruit Fly ◽

Mass Rearing ◽

Fruit Flies ◽

Microbial Interactions ◽

Important Pest ◽

Gut Microbial Community

Abstract Background The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is being applied for the management of economically important pest fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in a number of countries worldwide. The success and cost effectiveness of SIT depends upon the ability of mass-reared sterilized male insects to successfully copulate with conspecific wild fertile females when released in the field. Methods We conducted a critical analysis of the literature about the tephritid gut microbiome including the advancement of methods for the identification and characterization of microbiota, particularly next generation sequencing, the impacts of irradiation (to induce sterility of flies) and fruit fly rearing, and the use of probiotics to manipulate the fruit fly gut microbiota. Results Domestication, mass-rearing, irradiation and handling, as required in SIT, may change the structure of the fruit flies’ gut microbial community compared to that of wild flies under field conditions. Gut microbiota of tephritids are important in their hosts’ development, performance and physiology. Knowledge of how mass-rearing and associated changes of the microbial community impact the functional role of the bacteria and host biology is limited. Probiotics offer potential to encourage a gut microbial community that limits pathogens, and improves the quality of fruit flies. Conclusions Advances in technologies used to identify and characterize the gut microbiota will continue to expand our understanding of tephritid gut microbial diversity and community composition. Knowledge about the functions of gut microbes will increase through the use of gnotobiotic models, genome sequencing, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metabolomics and metaproteomics. The use of probiotics, or manipulation of the gut microbiota, offers significant opportunities to enhance the production of high quality, performing fruit flies in operational SIT programs.

Download Full-text

Survival ability of Mexican fruit fly males from different strains in presence of the predatory orb-weaving spider Argiope argentata (Araneae: Araneidae)

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1017/s0007485318000275 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 109 (3) ◽

pp. 279-286

Author(s):

A. Dor ◽

P. Liedo

Keyword(s):

Integrated Management ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Fruit Fly ◽

Mass Rearing ◽

Anastrepha Ludens ◽

Mexican Fruit Fly ◽

Colony Management ◽

Rearing Conditions ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Different Strains

AbstractThe sterile insect technique (SIT) is a key element for the integrated management of pest populations of the Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens, in Mexico. Its success depends on the survival of mass-reared sterile males and their ability to mate with wild females. However, colonization and mass-rearing conditions can adversely affect their ability to avoid predators. To test if colony management strategies could contribute to improve field survival abilities of mass-reared flies, we compared the survival of males exposed to the orb-weaver spider Argiope argentata. Males compared originated from three strains with different colonization strategies: (a) a colony started from field-collected wild flies (replacement), (b) a colony started by hybridizing wild males with mass-reared adapted females (hybrid) and (c) a colony started with mass-reared males selected on the basis of their survival ability and mating competitiveness in field cages (selected). Mass-reared males and wild males were used as controls. Males were exposed to spiders under laboratory cage conditions. Overall, wild males showed better survival ability than mass-reared males. Regarding the colonization approach, wild males survived better than a hybrid, replaced and selected males. We conclude that mass-rearing conditions have a strong negative effect on the ability of males to escape spiders. The colonization systems evaluated did not counter this effect. The lower survival of males from the selected colony suggests that the selection over one generation did not contribute to improve males’ predator avoidance and escape abilities and probably needs to be modified. Possible explanations for this and implications on colonization and colony management for SIT purpose are discussed.

Download Full-text

Slow Larvae Mutant and Its Potential to Improve the Pupal Color-Based Genetic Sexing System in Mexican Fruit Fly, (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Journal of Economic Entomology ◽

10.1093/jee/toz094 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 112 (4) ◽

pp. 1604-1610

Author(s):

José S Meza ◽

Carlos Cáceres ◽

Kostas Bourtzis

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Principal Component ◽

Fruit Fly ◽

Mass Rearing ◽

Anastrepha Ludens ◽

Wild Type ◽

Mexican Fruit Fly ◽

Genetic Sexing ◽

Scale Population ◽

Fly Control

Abstract For many years, an area-wide fruit fly control campaign against the Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens (Loew) has been implemented in some regions of Mexico and Texas, using the sterile insect technique (SIT) as its principal component. To improve the efficiency of the SIT, a genetic sexing strain based on black pupae mutation (bp) was developed for A. ludens, namely, ‘Tapachula-7’ (Tap-7 genetic sexing strains [GSSs]). This strain was introduced into the AW-IPM program recently and allows male-only releases for SIT applications. Here, we report the genetic and biological characterization of a new mutation, slow larvae (sl), which was introduced to the original translocation of the Tap-7 GSS resulting in two new GSS (slow-7 and Tap/slow-7). In both GSSs, the translocated wild-type males emerge from brown pupae that develop faster than females. The females are homozygous for sl mutation in the slow-7 GSS and homozygous for sl and bp mutations in the Tap/slow-7 GSS, reaching larval maturity 2 d after most of the wild-type males, allowing the separation of most males during pupariation. The potential use of the slow-7 and Tap/slow-7 GSSs in mass rearing and large-scale population suppression programs is discussed.

Download Full-text

Agar and Carrageenan as Cost-Effective Gelling Agents in Yeast-Reduced Artificial Diets for Mass-Rearing Fruit Flies and Their Parasitoids

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects11020131 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 131 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Carlos Pascacio-Villafán ◽

Larissa Guillén ◽

Martín Aluja

Keyword(s):

Adult Emergence ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Fruit Fly ◽

Mass Rearing ◽

Fruit Flies ◽

Pupal Weight ◽

Anastrepha Ludens ◽

Gelling Agents ◽

Control Programs ◽

Diet Cost

The development of cost-effective diets for mass-rearing fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and their parasitoids in pest control programs based on the Sterile Insect Technique is a high priority worldwide. To this end, we tested carrageenan, agar, gelatin and two types of pregelatinized corn starches as gelling agents at varying percentages in a yeast-reduced liquid larval diet for rearing the Mexfly, Anastrepha ludens. Only diets with 0.234% (w/w) agar or 0.424% carrageenan were identified as diets with potential for mass-rearing A. ludens in terms of the number of pupae recovered from the diet, pupal weight, adult emergence, flight ability and diet cost. Comparative experiments showed that yeast-reduced agar and carrageenan gel diets produced heavier pupae and higher proportions of flying adults than the standard mass-rearing diet. The gel-agar and mass-rearing diets produced more pupae than the gel-carrageenan diet, but the latter produced more suitable larvae as hosts for rearing of Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) females, a widely used fruit fly biocontrol agent. Yeast-reduced agar and carrageenan gel diets could represent cost-effective fruit fly mass-rearing diets if a practical system for gel diet preparation and dispensation at fruit fly mass-rearing facilities is developed.

Download Full-text

Mass-rearing and sterilisation alter mating behaviour of male Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Australian Journal of Entomology ◽

10.1111/j.1440-6055.2005.00458.x ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 44 (2) ◽

pp. 158-163 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Christopher W Weldon

Keyword(s):

Mating Behaviour ◽

Fruit Fly ◽

Mass Rearing ◽

Bactrocera Tryoni

Download Full-text

Analysis of the volatile components of a bacterial fermentation attractive to the mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens).

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry ◽

10.1021/jf00053a041 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 43 (5) ◽

pp. 1348-1351 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Chang-Joo Lee ◽

Albert B. DeMilo ◽

Daniel S. Moreno ◽

Adelaido J. Martinez

Keyword(s):

Fruit Fly ◽

Anastrepha Ludens ◽

Volatile Components ◽

Mexican Fruit Fly ◽

Bacterial Fermentation

Download Full-text

Caribbean Fruit Fly, Anastrepha suspensa (Loew) (Insecta: Diptera: Tephritidae)

EDIS ◽

10.32473/edis-in353-2001 ◽

1969 ◽

Vol 2004 (5) ◽

Author(s):

Howard V. Weems, Jr. ◽

John B. Heppner ◽

Thomas R. Fasulo ◽

James L. Nation

Keyword(s):

Fruit Fly ◽

Cooperative Extension Service ◽

Anastrepha Ludens ◽

Anastrepha Suspensa ◽

Mexican Fruit Fly ◽

The West ◽

University Of Florida ◽

Caribbean Fruit Fly ◽

Guava Fruit ◽

The Caribbean

The Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa (Loew), has also been called the Greater Antilliean fruit fly, the guava fruit fly and the Caribfly. It is a near relative of the Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens (Loew), and is one of several species of fruit flies which are indigenous to the West Indies and the larvae of which attack several kinds of tropical and subtropical fruits. This document is EENY-196 (originally published as DPI Entomology Circulars 38 and 260), one of a series of Featured Creatures from the Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published: March 2001. EENY196/IN353: Caribbean Fruit Fly, Anastrepha suspensa (Loew) (Insecta: Diptera: Tephritidae) (ufl.edu)

Download Full-text