Female presence enhances sexual performance of sterile Anastrepha ludens males of the Tapachula‐7 GSS strain

Abstract

AbstractThe sterile insect technique (SIT), used for the control of many tephritid fly pests, is based on the rearing and release of large numbers of sexually competitive sterile insects into a wild population. In the interest of reducing expenses and increasing SIT effectiveness, genetic sexing strains (GSS) have been developed. These strains allow the production and release of only males. The objective of our study was to assess the effects of pre‐release adult exposure to methoprene and to females on the mating propensity and mating competitiveness of GSS sterile males of Anastrepha ludens (Loew) (Diptera: Tephritidae). GSS sterile males were kept on a protein‐sugar (protein‐fed) or a protein‐sugar‐methoprene diet and were exposed to different proportions of females for the normal pre‐release period of 5 days. Using laboratory and field‐cage bioassays, we examined the influence of methoprene and female presence on the mating success of sterile males of 3–9 days old, in competition for wild females with untreated males and with wild males. Methoprene and female exposure had no significant effects on male mating success in the laboratory, whereas age had a positive relationship with the number of copulations observed. However, in field‐cage bioassays, males exposed to females obtained a higher number of copulations than unexposed control males. Possible implications of these findings for programs that use GSS and especially for the campaign against Mexican fruit flies are discussed.