Area-Wide Suppression of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly, Ceratitis capitata, and the Oriental Fruit Fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, in Kamuela, Hawaii

The United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service initiated an area-wide fruit fly management program in Hawaii in 2000. The first demonstration site was established in Kamuela, Hawaii, USA. This paper documents suppression of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), and the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae), in a 40 km2 area containing urban, rural and agricultural zones during a 6 year period. The suppression techniques included sanitation, GF-120 NF Naturalyte Fruit Fly Bait sprays, male annihilation, Biolure® traps, and parasitoids against C. capitata and B. dorsalis. In addition, small numbers of sterile males were released against B. dorsalis. Substantial reductions in fruit infestation levels were achieved for both species (90.7 and 60.7% for C. capitata and B. dorsalis, respectively) throughout the treatment period. Fruit fly captures in the 40 km2 treatment area were significantly lower during the 6 year period than those recorded in three non-treated areas. The strategy of combining suppression techniques in an area-wide approach is discussed

Survival of sterile male Mediterranean fruit flies in large field cages after release at different ages.

In Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata) sterile insect technique (SIT) programs worldwide, sterile flies are usually released at 2?3 days of age. However, they usually do not reach full sexual maturity until ca. 5 days of age. We tested whether holding sterile males longer at a fly emergence and release facility, until they were 5 days old, might result in significantly more flies surviving to reach sexual maturity in the field. In large field cages in Hawaii, we released sterile Mediterranean fruit fly males 2 or 5 days old under conditions where food and water were provided, or not provided. Flies were released 2 days after peak emergence in one field cage, while they were released 5 days after peak emergence in a second field cage. The numbers of flies flying out and remaining (dead, dying or non-flying) in the holding boxes were recorded on the day of fly release. At 5 and 8 days of fly age, the size of the male fly populations were estimated using trimedlure-baited traps placed into each of the two field cages for a 30-min period when the numbers of flies trapped were compared. Following six tests (three replications each with and without water and sugar provided), the differences in fly captures (i.e. survival) between 2 days vs. 5 days old releases were highly significant. With food and water provided, several times as many flies from the 5-day-old release field cage were captured at 5 and 8 days of age compared to the 2-day-old release field cage. These differences were magnified under conditions of no food and water provided. Holding Mediterranean fruit flies longer prior to release, requires more holding space and food, but will lead to significantly greater numbers of sexually mature flies in the field.Made available in DSpace on 2013-12-10T22:20:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Beatriz3.pdf: 169341 bytes, checksum: 651b7ba28d01aa6ccf69f4ba13f9eff9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-12-292013Supplement 1

Survival of sterile male Mediterranean fruit flies in large field cages after release at different ages.

In Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata) sterile insect technique (SIT) programs worldwide, sterile flies are usually released at 2?3 days of age. However, they usually do not reach full sexual maturity until ca. 5 days of age. We tested whether holding sterile males longer at a fly emergence and release facility, until they were 5 days old, might result in significantly more flies surviving to reach sexual maturity in the field. In large field cages in Hawaii, we released sterile Mediterranean fruit fly males 2 or 5 days old under conditions where food and water were provided, or not provided. Flies were released 2 days after peak emergence in one field cage, while they were released 5 days after peak emergence in a second field cage. The numbers of flies flying out and remaining (dead, dying or non-flying) in the holding boxes were recorded on the day of fly release. At 5 and 8 days of fly age, the size of the male fly populations were estimated using trimedlure-baited traps placed into each of the two field cages for a 30-min period when the numbers of flies trapped were compared. Following six tests (three replications each with and without water and sugar provided), the differences in fly captures (i.e. survival) between 2 days vs. 5 days old releases were highly significant. With food and water provided, several times as many flies from the 5-day-old release field cage were captured at 5 and 8 days of age compared to the 2-day-old release field cage. These differences were magnified under conditions of no food and water provided. Holding Mediterranean fruit flies longer prior to release, requires more holding space and food, but will lead to significantly greater numbers of sexually mature flies in the field.Supplement 1

Sterile medfly males of the TSL Vienna 8 genetic sexing strain display improved mating performance with ginger root oil.

A key point of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) applied to the medfly, Ceratitis capitata, is that the sterile males produced in the laboratory should have at least a minimal sexual compatibility with wild females