Effect of limited protein consumption during the larval and adult stage on life‐history traits of the Mexican fruit fly

Abstract

Anastrepha ludens Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae) is an important mango and citrus pest. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is currently used to control this fly. The SIT involves the release of sterile insects to reduce wild populations through the induction of sterility. Prior to release, insects are mass-reared on artificial diets. The rearing of A. ludens involves the provision of protein both in the larval and adult stage, thus we studied trade-offs between larval and adult diets. We compared various yeast concentrations in the larval diet and two formulations in the adult diet, both at small and semi-mass scale. We determined the quality of the insects at all developmental stages. Low concentrations of torula yeast (TY) (2.9 and 3.6%) produced larvae and pupae of low weight, fewer larvae and pupae, and more males than higher TY concentrations (6.1%), but this was only discernable at a small scale. Adult survival without water and food was significantly lower for non-irradiated males and females, and irradiated males when reared on 6.1% TY. For mating success, we found that non-irradiated males reared on 4.8% TY but fed only sugar (S) as adults had lower probability of mating than males fed yeast hydrolysate (YH). For irradiated males, larval diet had no effect on mating competitiveness, only males fed with S + YH in the adult diet had higher mating success than those fed with S only. We propose reducing TY in the larval diet to 5.1%; however, for release colonies S + YH will need to be provided in the adult diet. Knowledge on larval and adult nutritional requirements will aid in our understanding of insect nutritional ecology and will also improve mass-rearing diets.