Some species of the genus Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae) are successfully managed by matching the sterile insect technique with parasitoid releases. Such strategies used in integrated pest management can be implemented only where insect mass-rearing programs are feasible. In this study, we show the process of domestication, rearing technology and quality control data obtained from 54 generations of Anastrepha sp.1 aff. fraterculus (Wiedemann, 1830) kept under fully artificial conditions. Eggs were collected by an artificial oviposition panel consisting of one side of the cage made of blue voile fabric externally covered with a thin layer of silicon rubber. They were then air-bubbled in water at 25 ºC for 48 h before seeding. Larvae were reared on the regular laboratory artificial diet with 66 % of agar reduction turning over a semi-liquid diet, which reduced costs and improved insect quality. The adult and larval diets were composed of local ingredients including hydrolyzed yeast. When large-scale production of this fly is contemplated, the critical stage is larval development. This system of artificial rearing for A. fraterculus sp.1 developed in Brazil, allows for the production of a large number of insects of excellent quality using local ingredients and less agar in diet composition than the original medium used for this species. By reducing the interval of egg collection, the system might be optimized in terms of insect yield and, therefore, meet the demands of A. fraterculus sp.1 with regard to integrated pest management purposes.

Feeding of RK together with yeast hydrolysate to immature Qfly increases mating propensity at young ages and accordingly shows significant potential as a pre-release supplement that might increase the proportion of released flies that attain sexual maturation in Sterile Insect Technique programmes. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Females of Ceratitis capitata are facultative polyandrous, with remating more common in laboratory strains rather than wild ones. In the application of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) against this pest, large overflooding ratios of sterile : wild males can increase the remating frequency. Females that mate for the first time with a sterile male tend to remate more frequently. The exposure of sterile males to ginger root oil (GRO) is used in C. capitata SIT programmes to increase the sterile male mating success. Exposing males to an ‘aromatherapy’ with GRO may also increase the remating frequency among wild females. The frequency of wild females remating, number of matings per female, the refractory period between the first and second mating, and the duration of the first and second matings of wild females were determined under laboratory conditions for three mating scenarios that included wild males only or wild males competing with sterile males (either GRO‐treated or non‐treated). Wild females first mated with sterile males exposed to GRO had their remating rate over the following 6 days and the mean number of matings per female reduced in comparison to those first mated with non‐exposed sterile males, from 62.5% to 32.2% and from 3.1 to 1.6 respectively. The remating parameters of females mated with sterile GRO‐exposed males resembled those of females mated with wild males.

We studied the dispersal behavior and survival of sterile medßy males either treated or not with ginger root oil (GRO), in Þeld conditions, in Petrolina-PE, northeast Brazil, from May 2006 to December 2007 in a sterile insect technique (SIT) program. The tsl strain Vienna 8 from the Ceratitis capitata Wied. (Diptera: Tephritidae), medßy, mass-rearing facility located in Juazeiro-BA, Brazil, was used. The results showed that sterile males either exposed or not to GRO exhibit similar dispersal behavior and postrelease survival. More than 60% of the sterile males, either treated or not treared wth GRO, were recovered at a 25-m distance from the releasing point, Ϸ20% at 50 m, and 5% in traps situated 100 m from the releasing point. Around 90% of the sterile males, exposed or not to GRO, were recovered 5 d after release of the sterile male individuals, whereas Ͻ1% were recovered after 11 d. Our results imply that ginger root oil can be used to treat sterile medßy males without interfering with their dispersal or survival in the Þeld.

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