Cryptic genetic structure in an Argentinian population of Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae) evidenced by SSR markers and quantitative traits

In some regions of Argentina and Brazil, the South American fruit fly Anastrepha fraterculus (Wied.) (Diptera: Tephritidae) causes significant damage to crops. An efficient integrated management program requires knowledge of pest population dynamics, dispersion patterns, sexual and oviposition behaviour, and adaptive landscape. The present study combined simple sequence repeat (SSR) molecular markers and morphometric datasets in order to analyse the population structure and infer the oviposition resource use strategy of the females. Infested guava fruits were collected from nine wild trees in Tucumán, Argentina, and a total of 140 adult A. fraterculus were recovered. These were then measured for six morphometric traits and 89 of them were genotyped for eight SSR loci. Genetic variability estimates were high (expected heterozygosity = 0.71, allelic richness = 12.5), with 8 to 20 alleles per locus. According to Wright's F-statistics estimates, the highest proportion (83%) of genetic variation occurred within individuals while variance between and within fruits were similar (≈ 8.5%). Analysis of the cryptic genetic structure based on SSR using different approaches, namely discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) and sparse non-negative matrix factorization (SNMF), yielded results consistent with the occurrence of two clusters with virtually no admixture. Average kinship between individuals which had emerged from the same fruit (0.07) was lower than that expected for full-sib families. Univariate and multivariate analyses of phenotypic data showed 54-66% of variance among individuals within fruits and 34-46% among fruits. The comparison between phenotypic (PST) and molecular (FST) differentiation identified wing width and length as possible target of positive selection. The average kinship and high genetic variation within fruits, together with the highly significant genetic differentiation among fruits, supports the hypothesis that each fruit was colonised by about three ovipositing females. The results also indicate that females were able to disperse widely from the emergence site before mating and starting oviposition activity.Instituto de GenéticaFil: Rodriguez, Angeles I. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; ArgentinaFil: Ferreyra, Laura Ines. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; ArgentinaFil: Lanzavecchia, Silvia Beatriz. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Genética. Laboratorio de Genética de Insectos de Importancia Económica; ArgentinaFil: Gomez Cendra, Paula V. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Vilardi, Juan Cesar. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Precocious sexual signalling and mating in Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae) sterile males achieved through juvenile hormone treatment and protein supplements

Sexual maturation of Anastrepha fraterculus is a long process. Methoprene (a mimic of juvenile hormone) considerably reduces the time for sexual maturation in males. However, in other Anastrepha species, this effect depends on protein intake at the adult stage. Here, we evaluated the mating competitiveness of sterile laboratory males and females that were treated with methoprene (either the pupal or adult stage) and were kept under different regimes of adult food, which varied in the protein source and the sugar:protein ratio. Experiments were carried out under semi-natural conditions, where laboratory flies competed over copulations with sexually mature wild flies. Sterile, methoprene-treated males that reached sexual maturity earlier (six days old), displayed the same lekking behaviour, attractiveness to females and mating competitiveness as mature wild males. This effect depended on protein intake. Diets containing sugar and hydrolyzed yeast allowed sterile males to compete with wild males (even at a low concentration of protein), while brewer´s yeast failed to do so even at a higher concentration. Sugar only fed males were unable to achieve significant numbers of copulations. Methoprene did not increase the readiness to mate of six-day-old sterile females. Long pre-copulatory periods create an additional cost to the management of fruit fly pests through the sterile insect technique (SIT). Our findings suggest that methoprene treatment will increase SIT effectiveness against A. fraterculus when coupled with a diet fortified with protein. Additionally, methoprene acts as a physiological sexing method, allowing the release of mature males and immature females and hence increasing SIT efficiency.Instituto de GenéticaFil: Liendo, Marí­a Clara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Devescovi, Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Bachmann, Guillermo Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Utges, María E. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Abraham, Solana. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Agronomía y Zootecnia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Vera, María Teresa. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Agronomía y Zootecnia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lanzavecchia, Silvia Beatriz. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Genética; ArgentinaFil: Bouvet, Juan Pedro. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Concordia; ArgentinaFil: Gomez Cendra, Paula V. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Hendrichs, Jorge. Joint FAO/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture. Insect Pest Control Section; AustriaFil: Teal, Peter E. A. Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology; Estados UnidosFil: Cladera, Jorge Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Genética; ArgentinaFil: Segura, Diego Fernando. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Genética; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin