Sexual Compatibility in Medfly (Diptera: Tephritidae) from Different Origins
Abstract
The use of the Sterile Insect Technique to control and/or eradicate insect pest populations has been extensively applied to medfly. However, patented differences in sexual compatibility between populations or strains from different origins has been a serious concern to a wider use of sterile flies, and in particular sterile males of genetic sexing strains (GSS). In the present experiments, the sexual compatibility and mating performance of flies from 9 countries representing 5 continents and 4 GSS were measured. It is demonstrated that, from a qualitative standpoint, wild medfly populations world-wide have not yet evolved specific sexual behaviors indicative of incipient pre-mating isolation mechanisms under local natural selection. Wild medfly populations are as sexually compatible with GSS as they are with other wild populations. On that basis, the same mass reared strain can now be used worldwide, as long as it fulfills the standard quality control requirements.View this article in BioOne
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.