Agar and Carrageenan as Cost-Effective Gelling Agents in Yeast-Reduced Artificial Diets for Mass-Rearing Fruit Flies and Their Parasitoids

Abstract

The development of cost-effective diets for mass-rearing fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and their parasitoids in pest control programs based on the Sterile Insect Technique is a high priority worldwide. To this end, we tested carrageenan, agar, gelatin and two types of pregelatinized corn starches as gelling agents at varying percentages in a yeast-reduced liquid larval diet for rearing the Mexfly, Anastrepha ludens. Only diets with 0.234% (w/w) agar or 0.424% carrageenan were identified as diets with potential for mass-rearing A. ludens in terms of the number of pupae recovered from the diet, pupal weight, adult emergence, flight ability and diet cost. Comparative experiments showed that yeast-reduced agar and carrageenan gel diets produced heavier pupae and higher proportions of flying adults than the standard mass-rearing diet. The gel-agar and mass-rearing diets produced more pupae than the gel-carrageenan diet, but the latter produced more suitable larvae as hosts for rearing of Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) females, a widely used fruit fly biocontrol agent. Yeast-reduced agar and carrageenan gel diets could represent cost-effective fruit fly mass-rearing diets if a practical system for gel diet preparation and dispensation at fruit fly mass-rearing facilities is developed.

Improvement of the Mass-Rearing Protocols for the South American Fruit Fly for Application of the Sterile Insect Technique

“…[ 11 ]. Pascacio-Villafan et al [ 67 ] estimated that the cost to produce 1 million A. ludens flies with yeast-reduced agar and carrageenan gel diets would be around USD 200.…”

Influence of Mineral Particle Films and Biomaterials on Guava Fruits and Implications for the Oviposition of Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) (Diptera: Tephritidae)

“…Guar gum added to all suspensions of mineral particles and biomaterial films did not affect the oviposition of A. obliqua , except in the choice bioassay, when it was used at 10 g L −1 . Guar gum acts as a thickener, improving the viscosity and stability of formulations, and is commonly used in chemical and biological insecticide formulations [ 60 , 61 ] and as a diet for the mass production of the fruit flies and parasitoids [ 78 ]. In a similar study, guar gum, when used as a thickener in suspensions of mineral films and biomaterials, did not affect the inhibition of oviposition by C. capitata [ 55 ].…”

Pupation Substrate Type and Volume Affect Pupation, Quality Parameters and Production Costs of a Reproductive Colony of Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) VIENNA 8 Genetic Sexing Strain

“…Future studies should consider adopting a multivariate approach to further understand how substrate characteristics interact with environmental conditions (e.g., temperature and humidity) of the pupation rooms to influence fly pupation and other traits of flies of relevance for SIT applications, such as the time to emergence. A cost-effectiveness optimization perspective [ 50 , 51 ] could be useful to model how many times a single batch of substrate (e.g., cellulose III) could be reused, and how this translates into cost savings in the production process.…”