IMPACT OF DIET ON NUTRITIONAL STATUS IN MALES OF Anastrepha fraterculus (DIPTERA: TEPHRITIDAE)

MEDINA PEREYRA, P.; CASTRO, F.; JUÁREZ, M. L.; GOANE, L.; RUIZ, M. J.; ARCE, O.; VERA, M.T.

Jornada; XXXI ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC MEETING OF TUCUMAN BIOLOGY ASSOCIATION; 2014

Asociación de Biología de Tucumán

The South American fruit fly A. fraterculus (Wiedemann) is an important pest of fruits. A control tool is the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), which requires that laboratory males compete with males of nature and transfer sterile sperm to wild females. The mating success of males depends on their nutritional status, however is unknown how the rearing conditions affect the way flies manage their nutritional reserves. The effect of adult diet on the nutritional status of males of A. fraterculus was evaluated. Two sources: a wild (W, collected from guava) and laboratory (L) population were analyzed. Adults were fed for 15 days with 2 types of diet: sugar (S) or a mixture of sugar and yeast hydrolysate (S+P). Sugar, glycogen, lipids (Van Handel method) and protein (Bradford reagent) were determinated. Three batches of 10 individuals for each case were analyzed. Data analysis consisted in a mixed model for each source where diet was the fixed component and batch was random. Diet had a significant effect on body weight. S+P fed males had higher dry weight for both sources. Differences for amount of proteins, sugar, glycogen and lipid between flies W and L were found. Protein content was higher in S+P fed L males, while diet did not affect the amount of sugar, glycogen and lipids. Protein content in W males was similar for both diets, while a higher content of sugar, glycogen and lipid in S fed males was observed. The existence of a differential nutritional assimilation capacity dependent of both, diet and individual source is suggested. It remains to explore which nutritional requirements contribute to increase reproductive success, in order to implement improvements in SIT programs.