The effect of irradiation and mass rearing on the anti-predator behaviour of the Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Abstract

Fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) are major pests worldwide. The sterile insect technique, where millions of flies are reared, sterilized by irradiation and then released, is one of the most successful and ecologically friendly methods of controlling populations of these pests. The mating behaviour of irradiated and non-irradiated flies has been compared in earlier studies, but there has been little attention paid to the anti-predator behaviour of mass-reared flies, especially with respect to wild flies. Tephritid flies perform a supination display to their jumping spider predators in order to deter attacks. In this study, we evaluated the possibility of using this display to determine the anti-predator capabilities of mass-reared irradiated, non-irradiated flies, and wild flies. We used an arena setup and observed bouts between jumping spiders (Phidippus audax Hentz) and male Mexican fruit flies (Anastrepha ludens Loew). We show that although all flies performed a supination display to their predator, wild flies were more likely to perform a display and were significantly more successful in avoiding attack than mass-reared flies. We suggest that this interaction can be used to develop a rapid realistic method of quality control in evaluating anti-predator abilities of mass-reared fruit flies.

Directional selection to improve the sterile insect technique: Survival and sexual performance of desiccation resistant Anastrepha ludens strains

“…However, as several of these strains were originated from a single or from very few individuals, a suitable approach could involve the selection on lines with richer genetic pool and the subsequent introgression of the character (cross of strains following by repeated backcrossing). From a practical point of view, candidate characters that potentially increase SIT efficiency include desiccation and/or temperature tolerance (Sørensen et al., ; Tejeda et al., ; Wang, Johnson, Daane, & Nadel, ), avoidance of predators capabilities (Dor, Valle‐Mora, Rodríguez‐Rodríguez, & Liedo, ; Hendrichs & Hendrichs, ; Hendrichs, Wornoayporn, Katsoyannos, & Hendrichs, ; Rao, Aguilar‐Argüello, Montoya, & Díaz‐Fleischer, ) or even the selection of complex and diffuse characteristics such as sexual competitiveness (McInnis, Shelly et al., ; Quintero‐Fong et al., ; Sánchez‐Rosario, Pérez‐Staples, Toledo, Valle‐Mora, & Liedo, ).…”

Effect of natural predators on Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae) control by sterile insect technique (SIT)

“…Studies that used wild and domesticated fruit flies found that irradiation and mass‐rearing greatly affect sterile fly survival against predators. For example, González‐López et al ., Rao et al . and Dor et al .…”

“…Studies that used wild and domesticated fruit flies found that irradiation and mass-rearing greatly affect sterile fly survival against predators. For example, González-López et al, 54 Rao et al 55 and Dor et al 56 found that the survival of sterile Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens) males against their predators is very low compared with their wild counterparts. Similarly, studies on Mediterranean fruit fly showed that sterile males are less likely to evade capture by their predators than wild flies.…”

Survival ability of Mexican fruit fly males from different strains in presence of the predatory orb-weaving spider Argiope argentata (Araneae: Araneidae)

“…Another reason could be their greater activity level. Rao et al (2013) showed that non-irradiated mass-reared A. ludens were less likely to perform a supination to deter the jumping spider Phidippus audax (Hentz) and to avoid it than wild A. ludens . We confirmed that mass-rearing conditions affect the ability of males to avoid predation, as was reported for non-irradiated and irradiated A. ludens males from the bisexual strain and irradiated Tap-7 males (González-López et al , 2016), and C. capitata (Hendrichs et al , 2007).…”

“…Another important factor, not assessed here, to take into account in the future, is the possible effect of irradiation over the performance of sterile flies, since it has been reported that irradiation can affect survival ability (Hendrichs et al , 2007 for C. capitata ), sexual competitiveness (Rull et al , 2005 for A. ludens ) and anti-predator behaviour (Rao et al , 2013). Also, exposing sterile males to hormonal treatment before release to accelerate sexual maturation (Pereira et al , 2013), and releasing them closer to sexual maturity, to minimize predation before reproduction (McInnis et al , 2013), will be complementary approaches to mitigate the lower predator avoidance and escape abilities of sterile males resulting from mass-rearing conditions.…”