Application of the Sterile-Insect-Release Technique in Mediterranean Fruit Fly1Suppression

Abstract

Populations of wild Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), were suppressed by gamma-irradiated flies in a 48-km2 coffee and citrus area in Nicaragua. From September 1968 to May 1969, approximately 40 million sterile flies were released by air each week. Wild Mediterranean fruit flies in a 2-km-wide border area around the nonisolated slerile-f1y-release area were depressed by aerial applications of bait sprays. Average deposition of viable Mediterranean fruit fly eggs, larval infestation in coffee fruits, and recoveries of pupae from mandarin oranges were at least 90.1% less in the release area than in the checks. During the experimental period, wild fly populations increased only 4-fold in the release area compared with 15- and 28-fold increases in the respective check areas.