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

LIENDO, M. CLARA; DEVESCOVI, FRANCISCO; BACHMANN, GUILLERMO; MARÍA E. UTGÉS; ABRAHAM, SOLANA; MT VERA; LANZAVECCHIA, S.B; BOUVET, JUAN P; GOMEZ-CENDRA PAULA; J HENDRICHS; PEA TEAL; CLADERA, JORGE L; DF SEGURA

BULLETIN OF ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2013 vol. 103 p. 1 - 13

0007-4853

Sexual maturation of Anastrepha fraterculus is a long process. Methoprene (a mimic 23 of juvenile hormone) considerably reduces the time for sexual maturation in males. 24 However, in other Anastrepha species, this effect depends on protein intake at the 25 adult stage. Here, we evaluated the mating competitiveness of sterile laboratory 26 males and females that were treated with methoprene (either the pupal or adult 27 stage) and were kept under different regimes of adult food, which varied in the 28 protein source and the sugar:protein ratio. Experiments were carried out under semi- 29 natural conditions, where laboratory flies competed over copulations with sexually 30 mature wild flies. Sterile, methoprene-treated males that reached sexual maturity 31 earlier (six days old), displayed the same lekking behaviour, attractiveness to females 32 and mating competitiveness as mature wild males. This effect depended on protein 33 intake. Diets containing sugar and hydrolyzed yeast allowed sterile males to compete 34 with wild males (even at a low concentration of protein), while brewer´s yeast failed to 35 do so even at a higher concentration. Sugar only fed males were unable to achieve 36 significant numbers of copulations. Methoprene did not increase the readiness to 37 mate of six-day-old sterile females. Long pre-copulatory periods create an additional 38 cost to the management of fruit fly pests through the sterile insect technique (SIT).