Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (2009) 131, 159-166

Diana Pérez-Staples, Christopher W. Weldon, Catherine Smallridge and Phillip W. Taylor (2009)
Pre-release feeding on yeast hydrolysate enhances sexual competitiveness of sterile male Queensland fruit flies in field cages
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 131 (2), 159-166
Abstract: Recent laboratory studies of mass-reared flies in small cages have found that periods of just 24- or 48-h access to yeast hydrolysate can substantially enhance mating performance of mass-reared male Queensland fruit flies, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae) ('Q-flies'). Using field cage tests that provide a better approximation of nature, we here investigated whether access to yeast hydrolysate for 48 h after adult emergence improves the ability of male and female mass-reared, sterile Q-flies to compete sexually with wild-type flies that had been provided continuous access to yeast hydrolysate. Mating probability of sterile males was significantly increased by 48-h access to yeast hydrolysate; sterile males provided 48-h access to yeast hydrolysate had mating probability similar to that of wild males provided continuous access to yeast hydrolysate, whereas sterile males deprived of access to yeast hydrolysate had much lower mating probability. Unlike males, access to yeast hydrolysate for 48 h did not increase mating probability of sterile female Q-flies. We instead found that wild females provided continuous access to yeast hydrolysate had higher mating probability than sterile females that did or did not have 48-h access to yeast hydrolysate. This result raises the possibility that a bisexual Q-fly strain might operate essentially as a male-only release when the flies are given access to yeast hydrolysate during a 48-h pre-release holding period. Sterile males given access to yeast hydrolysate for 48 h mated significantly earlier in the evening than wild males and, as in other recent studies, this tendency was associated with an increased tendency to mate on the trees rather than the cage walls. There was no evidence of sexual isolation in this study, as wild and sterile mass-reared flies showed no evidence of preferential mating with their own kind. Further studies are now needed to assess the potential for pre-release access to yeast hydrolysate to improve sexual performance and longevity of sterile, mass-reared, Q-flies in the field.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Diana Perez-Staples, Christopher W. Weldon, Phillip W. Taylor

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
rearing/culturing/mass production
control - general

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Bactrocera tryoni