INVESTIGADORES
SEGURA Diego Fernando
artículos
Título:
Morphometric trait differentiation between a wild and a mass-reared population of Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae)
Autor/es:
PAULA VALERIA GOMEZ CENDRA; DIEGO FERNANDO SEGURA; ANDREA CLAUDIA ALBERTI; JUAN CESAR VILARDI
Revista:
International Journal of Tropical Insect Science
Editorial:
Cambridge University Press
Referencias:
Año: 2014
ISSN:
1742-7584
Resumen:
The South American fruit fly Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) is an important
pest in many countries. The sterile insect technique is an effective method of controlling
Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) in Argentina and has been proposed for use against
A. fraterculus. Because this technique relies on sterile mass-reared males mating with wild
females, it is essential to verify that artificial rearing does not reduce male mating
competitiveness. Several morphometric characters were evaluated to detect differences
between a wild population and a laboratory strain that was derived from it and reared
artificially since 1997. Eight morphometric traits were analysed as indicators of body size,
head shape and potential mobility: Thorax Length, Head Width, Face Width, Eye Length,
Wing Length, Wing Width, Third Tibia Length and Femur Length. The results were
analysed using multivariate analysis of variance, linear multiple regression and logistic
multiple regression. In general, laboratory flies were larger than wild ones (possibly
because the larval diet was supplied ad libitum). Laboratory males had significantly larger
Head Width and Eye Length and a smaller Wing Width than wild males. Laboratory
females differed from wild ones only by having narrower wings. These results could be
due to environmental and genetic factors, or as a consequence of genetic drift (for the
latter) during colony establishment plus gradual adaptation to laboratory conditions,
where flight ability is most likely less important (resources are found easily at close
distances). Also, short-distance interactions among individuals are more frequent in a
colony, possibly favouring increased facial trait sizes by sexual selection. Because
long-term morphological changes could represent the beginning of intraspecific
differentiation, they should probably be worthy of some consideration if a large massrearing
colony is established.