Entomology Unit
Fruit flies
Mating Compatibility Studies
A field cage arena provides a valuable tool to ask questions related to compatibility and competitiveness of mass produced fruit flies. In fruit flies it has been extensively used for these purposes and it is now part of the routine quality control protocols for fruit fly production. The Unit has carried out extensive studies on mating compatibility between different populations of the Mediterranean fruit fly and Anastrepha fraterculus. For Mediterranean fruit fly it was shown that there are no major incompatibilities between populations from widely different geographical regions. This means that a particular genetic sexing strain can be used in many different SIT programmes.
However for Anastrepha fraterculus, some major differences were identified in mating compatibility between some populations from different regions of the sub-continent. These field cage studies will be extended to the olive fruit fly and to the oriental fruit fly and melon fly sexing strains. The field cage system is also now being used for the same purpose in tsetse.
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