Age Estimation of Mexican Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) Based on Accumulation of Pterins

Abstract

A common method of aging adult flies, fluorescence spectrometry, was used to monitor the increase of overall pterine titer in head extracts of Anastrepha ludens (Loew). Accumulation of fluorescent compounds was measured as a function of chronological age of flies maintained at 17 and 27 degrees C. Although relative fluorescence increased with age, field studies revealed that this phenomenon could not be used for accurate age estimation, as relative fluorescence did not increase predictably with age over the entire life span. Accumulation of individual pterins, deoxysepiapterin and sepiapterin, were studied in a similar manner. These two specific compounds were separated by high-pressure liquid chromatography and their accumulation was followed at 15 and 30 degrees C in the laboratory and under caged field conditions. While titer of deoxysepiapterin increased steadily in a curvilinear fashion, sepiapterin quickly reached a maximum and then maintained a constant level for the rest of the life of the flies. Based on the physiological response of deoxysepiapterin to chronological time and ambient thermal conditions, this compound was determined to be an age specific biological parameter for the Mexican fruit fly and should allow age estimation in field-collected flies.

Determining the age of adult flesh flies, Boettcherisca peregrina, using pteridine fluorescence

“…Estimated age by pteridine fluorescence plotted against chronological age in adult female (A) and male (B) Boettcherisca peregrina kept at an ambient temperature. Lines fitted by linear regression gave a regression equation for females, y = 1.0478x − 0.2206, r 2 = 0.9068 and for males, y = 1.0419x − 0.1512, r 2 = 0.8229. increased linearly with age, but curvilinearly in other species including Chrysomya bezziana (Wall et al, 1990), Lucilia sericata (Wall et al, 1991), Musca domestica (Mochizuki et al, 1993), Anastrepha ludens Loew (diptera: tephritidae) (Tomic-Carruthers et al, 2002) and Chrysomya megacephala (Zhu et al, 2003). In the present study on the adults of B. peregrina, pteridine levels were found primarily to increase with age linearly, which was similar to the former.…”

“…However, the increase patterns were different among species. In some species, such as Stomoxy calcitrans (Mail et al , 1983), Glossina morsitans morsitans Newstead (Diptera: Glossinidae) (Lehane & Mail, 1985; Lehane & Hargrove, 1988), Glossina pallidipes Austen (Diptera: Glossinidae) (Lehane & Hargrove, 1988), Cochliomyia hominivorax (Thomas & Chen, 1989), Musca autumnalis De Geer (Diptera: Muscidae) (Moon & Krafsur, 1995) and Drosophila serrata Malloch (Diptera: Drosophilidae) (Robson et al , 2006), the pteridine level increased linearly with age, but curvilinearly in other species including Chrysomya bezziana (Wall et al , 1990), Lucilia sericata (Wall et al , 1991), Musca domestica (Mochizuki et al , 1993), Anastrepha ludens Loew (diptera: tephritidae) (Tomic‐Carruthers et al , 2002) and Chrysomya megacephala (Zhu et al , 2003). In the present study on the adults of B .…”

Biosynthesis of Pteridines in Insects: A Review

“…They possess functions including visual screening pigments, external signaling, nitrogen excretory substances, essential cofactors of many metabolic reactions, the hydroxylation of aromatic amino acids, and producers of nitric oxide, among others [2]. The accumulation of some pteridines has also been used for age determination in some insect species [3][4][5].…”

Age-dependance of pteridines in the malaria vector, Anopheles stephensi

“…the new world screwworm Cochliomyia hominivorax [15]; the Simulium damnosum complex [16]; the Mexican fruit fly Anastrepha ludens [17]; the screwworms Chrysomia bezziana Villeneuve [18] and Cochliomyia hominivorax Coquerel [15]; tsetse flies Glossina spp. [11], Anopheles albimanus [8], Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles stephensi [9]; and stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans [19].…”