New Indices and Method to Measure the Sexual Compatibility and Mating Performance of Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) Laboratory-Reared Strains Under Field Cage Conditions

Abstract

The method to assess the sexual compatibility and mating performance of Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), mass-reared strains has been revised. Three new indices (isolation index, ISI; male relative performance index, MRPI; female relative performance index, FRPI) that look at the relative impact of both male and female population on the sexual isolation between laboratory and wild strains are described. The methodology and the indices were used in Argentina to test the SEIB 6–96 genetic sexing strain in competition with wild C. capitata population from the Patagonia region. The experiments show that the 2 populations are sexually compatible (ISI = 0.309). SEIB 6–96 sterile males compete with wild males, achieving 1 out of 4 Patagonian female mates. Using the current method as a decision tool, SEIB 6–96 sterile males are released weekly in Patagonia since September 1997. The accuracy of the 3 new indices is compared with the indices previously available. The possible application of the method and the indices in SIT operational programs world-wide is discussed.