Irradiation dose does not affect male reproductive organ size, sperm storage, or female Ceratitis capitata remating propensity

SOLANA ABRAHAM; VIVIANA DIAZ; MOYANO, ANDREA; GISELA CASTILLO; JUAN RULL; LORENA SUAREZ; FERNANADO MURUA; OSVALDO LARIA; DIEGO MOLINA; OVRUSKI, SERGIO

BULLETIN OF ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2021 vol. 111 p. 82 - 90

0007-4853

The Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata is a globally invasive pest, often controlled with the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). For the SIT, mass-rearing of the target insect and posterior irradiation are imperatives. Sterile males are often less able to inhibit females remating and transfer less number of sperm, and even irradiation could affect male reproductive organ, with consequences for their ability to inhibit female remating. On the other hand, male age could affect their ability to modulate female response after mating. Here we evaluate the quality of the strain mass-reared in Bioplanta San Juan, Argentina, under laboratory conditions, with regards to: (i) the ability of sterile males irradiated at 100 or 140 Gy to inhibit female remating, in the same day and at 24 h of first copulation; (ii) the ability of sterile males of 3, 4 or 5 d-old to inhibit female remating at 24 h of first copulation, and (iii) the effect of a reduction in irradiation doses on the number of sperm stored by females and reproductive organ size in virgin and mated males. Sterile males were more able to wild males to inhibit female remating in the same day of first copulation and as able as wild males one day after first copulation. Male age did not affect their ability to inhibit female receptivity. Number of sperm stored by females, testes size and ectodermal accessory glands size were not affected by male identity, while sterile 100 Gy males had higher mesodermal accessory glands than control fertile males. A reduction in irradiation doses do not impact in any variable measured, except in percentage of spermless females: females mated with sterile 100 Gy males had lower probability of store sperm. The results showed here are very encouraging for tsl Vienna 8 strain reared in Argentina and are discussed in comparison with previous works in C. capitata female remating with dissimilar result.