Mediterranean Fruit Fly

ABStrAct: An electronic spreadsheet is described which helps users to design, equip and operate facilities for the mass rearing of insects for use in insect pest control programmes integrating the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). The spreadsheet was designed based on experience ...

Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly), Ceratitis capitata, is an important pest of many fruit crops in temperate and subtropical regions worldwide. α-Amylases are hydrolytic enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism in insects. There is no report about α-amylase activity in C. capitata in literature. So, the aim of the current study was biochemical characterisation of α-amylase in the alimentary canal of the pest to gain a better understanding of digestive physiology of the insect. α-Amylase of Medfly was extracted and characterised using starch as the substrate. The results showed the presence of α-amylase activity in the gut of the insect for carbohydrate digestion. Optimum activity of the enzyme occurs at pH 8.0 and 40 °C. The most effective activator of the enzyme was determined in treatment with 20 mM CaCl2. Na+, K+ and Mg2+ ions also activated the enzyme. Native PAGE of α-amylase showed two isoenzymes suggesting the importance of α-amylase in the carbohydrate digestion in the insect. Understanding of the digestive physiology and α-amylase activity of Medfly is important when new management strategies for this economically important pest are devised.

The wolf spider Pardosa cribata Simon is the most abundant ground-dwelling spider inhabiting citrus orchards in eastern Spain. However, little is known about its activity-density and its predatory role in the citrus agrosystem. Here we report on the activity-density of P. cribata monitored by pitfall traps, and on its capacity to prey on two citrus pests that appear both in the citrus canopy and the ground cover, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemman) and Myzus persicae (Sulzer), respectively. Pardosa cribata was present in citrus orchards throughout the year, with a peak in spring and a higher peak in summer. Pardosa cribata preyed on adults and third-instar larvae but not on pupae of C. capitata. A type II functional response was obtained for teneral-like adults, with an estimated attack rate (a′) of 0.771 ± 0.213 days−1 and a handling time (T h) of 0.051 ± 0.013 days. Pardosa cribata also preyed efficiently on M. persicae, giving a type II functional response with an estimated attack rate and handling time of 2.833 ± 0.578 days−1 and 0.031 ± 0.001 days, respectively. The data reported here indicate that this wolf spider could play an important role in regulating both these pests, and therefore might contribute to developing conservation biological control strategies for citrus pests.

Previous research showed that exposure to ginger root, Zingiber officinale Roscoe, oil increased the mating success of mass-reared, sterile males of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). This work, however, involved the exposure of small groups of males (n = 25) in small containers (volume 400 ml). Several sterile male release programs use plastic adult rearing containers (so-called PARC boxes; hereafter termed storage boxes; 0.48 by 0.60 by 0.33 m) to hold mature pupae and newly emerged adults before release (approximately = 36,000 flies per box). The objective of the current study was to determine whether the application of ginger root oil to individual storage boxes increases the mating competitiveness of sterile C. capitata males. Irradiated pupae were placed in storage boxes 2 d before adult emergence, and in the initial experiment (adult exposure) ginger root oil was applied 5 d later (i.e., 3 d after peak adult emergence) for 24 h at doses of 0.0625, 0....

An understanding of the levels of remating and paternity skew in the field can be important for polyphagous pest species with a high colonization potential such as the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). The use of polymorphic simple sequence repeats on flies from two Mediterranean populations in combination with various statistical methods showed not only that Mediterranean fruit fly

Field experiments were conducted in 2005 on orange, Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck, var. Thomson in two different sites, Sbikha and Sidi Bouali, in Tunisia to assess the effectiveness of kaolin, spinosad and malathion against the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera Tephritidae). In both study sites, the materials were applied 3 times (kaolin at a concen-tration of 5 kg formulated product /100 l, spinosad at a concentration of 1 l formulated product /ha and malathion at a concentra-tion of 200 ml formulated product /100 l). The efficacy of the different treatments was evaluated by assessing male captures in modified Steiner traps and fruit damage (punctured and dropped fruits). The results indicated that (1) no significant differences among treatments in male captures were detected (2) fruit damage (no. punctured fruits and fallen fruits) was lower on kaolin-treated trees than on spinosad, malathion, and untreated trees. Kaolin suc-cessfully protect...

Field experiments were conducted in 2005 on orange, Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck, var. Thomson in two different sites, Sbikha and Sidi Bouali, in Tunisia to assess the effectiveness of kaolin, spinosad and malathion against the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera Tephritidae). In both study sites, the materials were applied 3 times (kaolin at a concentration of 5 kg formulated product /100 l, spinosad at a concentration of 1 l formulated product /ha and malathion at a concentration of 200 ml formulated product /100 l). The efficacy of the different treatments was evaluated by assessing male captures in modified Steiner traps and fruit damage (punctured and dropped fruits). The results indicated that (1) no significant differences among treatments in male captures were detected (2) fruit damage (no. punctured fruits and fallen fruits) was lower on kaolin-treated trees than on spinosad, malathion, and untreated trees. Kaolin successfully protected ...

Sex determination mechanisms, differing in their modality, are widely represented in all the various animal taxa, even at the intraspecific level. Within the highly diversified class Insecta, Drosophila has been used to unravel the molecular and genetic mechanistic interactions that are involved in sex determination. Indeed, the molecularly characterized genes of the Drosophila sex determination hierarchy X:A > Sxl > tra > dsx have been fruitful starting points in the cloning of homologous genes from other insect species. This genetic cascade seems to control sex determination in all Drosophila species. Sex determination in the tephritid Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), which diverged from Drosophila 90-100 million years ago, contrasts to that found in Drosophila. A different primary signal, a Y-linked male-determining factor (M), still to be molecularly identified, dictates maleness whereas in Drosophila, the primary signal is the X:A (X chromosome:a...