Mass Production of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly at Metapa, Mexico
Abstract
The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae), was discovered in Guatemala in 1975, and by 1977 it was reported in Mexico. The Mexican Government, together with the U. S. Department of Agriculture, decided to apply the sterile insect technique (SIT) as part of an integrated pest control program to stop further expansion in distribution of this pest into Mexico and to eliminate it from the Mexican territory. Therefore, a medfly mass rearing facility was built in 1979 at Metapa, Chiapas, Mexico. Its goal was to produce 500 million good quality pupae per week to release over the control area as sterile flies. The rearing methods that permitted the fulfillment of the established goal are described.Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright for any article published in Florida Entomologist is held by the author(s) of the article. Florida Entomologist is an open access journal. Florida Entomologist follows terms of the Creative Commons, Attribution Non-Commercial License (cc by-nc). By submitting and publishing articles in Florida Entomologist, authors grant the FOJ and Florida Entomologist's host institutions permission to make the article available through Internet posting and electronic dissemination, and to otherwise archive the information contained both electronically and in a hard printed version. When used, information and images obtained from articles must be referenced and cited appropriately. Articles may be reproduced for personal, educational, or archival purposes, or any non-commercial use. Permission should be sought from the author(s) for multiple, non-commercial reproduction. Written permission from the author(s) is required for any commercial reproduction.