New post-teneral diet for sterile males of Ceratitis capitata VIENNA 8 (Diptera: Tephritidae): Quality control parameters

Abstract

Pre-release diets used for the sterile insect technique (SIT) have been shown to improve male quality in several species of fruit flies. Searching for efficient, practical and economical diets that do not require changes in packaging systems has long been a focus of interest for SIT. Here, we report the evaluation of a new formulation of post-teneral diet, known as 1:24WM diet [enzymatically hydrolyzed yeast (4%) and sugar (96%)] for sterile males of the genetic sexing strain of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), called VIENNA 8. The objective of this study was to evaluate under laboratory and field conditions the parameters of absolute fliers, survival, mating performance and sterility induction of sterile males of C. capitata fed the 1:24WM diet. The results show flies that fed the 1:24WM diet did not differ in the absolute fliers, post-release survival, mating performance or sterility induction, when compared to those fed the standard diet (Mubarqui diet). The results suggest that the new formulation represents a feasible alternative for the feeding of sterile males in the Mediterranean fruit fly. The possible implementation of this diet for SIT release programs are discussed.