A basis for the renewal of sterile insect technique for the olive fly, Bactrocera oleae (Rossi)

Abstract

The olive fly (OLF), Bactrocera oleae (Rossi), is an invasive tephritid fruit fly that causes extensive damage to olive crops around the world (especially in the Mediterranean basin and North America). Previous attempts to use the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) for the OLF were not successful because of the inability to rear high quality OLF in the laboratory on an artificial diet. New improvements in rearing methods and additional understanding of the basic biology of the OLF have led to a renewal of interest in using SIT for OLF. This review discusses the history, difficulties, improvements and future directions of OLF mass‐rearing. Issues include: the design of cages and oviposition substrates, cost and quality of artificial diets, maintenance of endosymbiotic microbiota, control of pathogenic microbes, collection of pupae, the fitness of adults, and the competitiveness of sterilized laboratory males released to the field.

Description of the irradiated and nonirradiated midgut of Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann (Diptera: Tephritidae) and Anastrepha ludens Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae) used for sterile insect technique

“…We document for the first time the damaging effects of radiation used in SIT on C. capitata and A. ludens midguts. We continue the discussion [i.e., Lauzon 2003;Niyazi et al 2004;Lauzon et al 2009, Estes et al 2011Jurkevitch 2011;Zindel et al 2011)] regarding the possible use of probiotic diets to improve the condition of the midgut in irradiated flies and improve SIT tephritid performance.…”

Housekeeping in Tephritid insects: the best gene choice for expression analyses in the medfly and the olive fly

“…The olive fly, on the other hand, is a strictly monophagous cousin of the medfly, of particular interest in the olive producing areas of the world4. Recent development of molecular and genomics tools have made it focus of active research, with renewed interest in its control5556. The tissues selected for the analysis were mostly tissues from either the reproductive (testes, ovaries, male and female accessory glands, ovipositors) or the olfactory (maxillary palps and antennae) systems of the flies.…”

Effect of the symbiont Candidatus Erwinia dacicola on mating success of the olive fly Bactrocera oleae (Diptera: Tephritidae)

“…Beneficial endosymbionts of insect pests might influence the choice and success of management methods, such as the sterile insect technique (SIT) (Knipling, 1955;Estes et al, 2012b) and biological control using parasitoids. For example, the success of the SIT depends on the ability of sterilized, massreared laboratory males to compete successfully in the field with wild males for mating with wild females so that no fertile offspring occur (Hendrichs et al, 2002).…”