[01] Muhammad Sarwar, Nuclear Institute for Agriculture & Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.

The aim of this technical brief is to summarize the results obtained from the laboratory and field trials conducted on birth control for insects in minimizing the impacts of fruit flies on horticulture. Several species of fruit flies belonging to Tephritidae family have a greater impact on global agriculture specially horticulture trade than almost any other pest. The introduction of fruit fly pests in an area pose a major risk to horticulture in affected countries due to the larvae damage to plant tissues before their harvest. One efficient, cost-effective and biologically-based fruit fly’s control technology in use of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) that unlike to chemical control tactics is friendly to the environment and does not pose any health concern. The sterile insect technique is widely used in integrated programs against tephritid fruit fly pests, and it involves the mass-rearing and subsequent sterilization of large numbers of male insects of the target pest. The sterilized male insects are then released repeatedly over the infested areas, where these mate with the fertile wild females that consequently produce no offspring. The wild pest population can be effectively suppressed if the sterile males outnumber the wild males. The sterile flies are good fliers and marked sterile males have been recovered up to 24 miles away from their release point, and these are very transient throughout their life. Furthermore, it is important that operational programs implementing the SIT need continuous routinely revising and updating of all protocols to ensure increased efficiency, while two-way feedback is essential between the mass rearing facility and field operations. Finally, it is necessary to point out that this series of studies also cover all the aspects of total quality management for fruit fly rearing, sterilization, shipment, holding, and release as it relates to the SIT application to support rapid progress. A variety of studies have developed protocols to assess strain compatibility and to improve colonization procedures and strain management. Specific studies have also addressed issues related to insect nutrition, irradiation protocols, field dispersal and survival, field cage behavior assessments, and enhancement of mating competitiveness. In special situations of isolation, if the pest population is treated systematically on an area-wide basis with sterile males, complete eradication of pest flies can be achieved as sterile males can invariably seek out and mate with any remaining females of the target pest population, a feat that is difficult to achieve using insecticides.

Sterile Insect Technique, SIT, Sterility, Sexual Behavior, Genetic Control

[01] Carlos, C., Donald, M., Todds, H., Eric, J., Alan, R. and Jorge, H. 2007. Quality Management Systems for Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) Sterile Insect Technique. Florida Entomologist, 90 (1): 1-9. [02] Collins, S.R., Weldon, C.W., Banos, C. and Taylor, P.W. 2008. Effects of irradiation dose rate on quality and sterility of Queensland fruit flies, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt). Journal of Applied Entomology, 132: 398-405. [03] Copeland, R., Wharton, R., Luke, Q. and DeMeyer, M. 2002. Indigenous Hosts of Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Kenya. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 95 (6): 672-694. [04] Dyck, V.A., Hendrichs, J. and Robinson, A.S. 2005. The Sterile Insect Technique: Principles and Practice in Area Wide Integrated Pest Management. Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands. [05] Gilchrist, A.S. and Crisafulli, D.C.A. 2005. Using variation in wing shape to distinguish between wild and mass-reared individuals of Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 119: 175-178. [06] Harmer, A.M.T., Preethi, R. and Phillip, W.T. 2006. Remating inhibition in female Queensland fruit flies: Effects and correlates of sperm storage. Journal of Insect Physiology, 52: 179-186. [07] Hendrichs, J., Franz, G. and Rendon, P. 2002. Medfly area wide sterile insect technique programmes for prevention, suppression, or eradication: The importance of mating behavior. Fla. Entomol., 85: 1-13. [08] International Plant Protection Convention. 2013. Phytosanitary Procedures for Fruit Fly (Tephritidae) Management (2005-010). ISPM 26. p. 8. [09] Kaspi, R. and Yuval, B. 2000. Post-teneral protein feeding improves sexual competitiveness but reduces longevity of mass reared sterile male Mediterranean fruit flies. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am., 93: 949-955. [10] Mahmoud, M.F. 2014. New indices for measuring some quality control parameters of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wied.). Arthropods, 3 (1): 88-95. [11] Mankin, R.W., Lemon, M., Harmer, A.M.T., Evans, C.S. and Taylor, P.W. 2008. Time-Pattern and Frequency Analyses of Sounds Produced by Irradiated and Untreated Male Bactrocera tryoni (Diptera: Tephritidae) During Mating Behavior. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 101 (3): 664-674. [12] Martha, A.H., Viwat, W., Byron, K. and Jorge, H. 2007. Quality Control Method to Measure Predator Evasion in Wild and Mass-Reared Mediterranean Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae). Florida Entomologist, 90 (1): 64-70. [13] Meats, A.W. 2003. Trials on variants of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) for suppression of populations of the Queensland fruit fly in small towns neighbouring a quarantine (exclusion) zone. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 43: 389-395. [14] Orozco-Davila, D., Hernandez, R., Meza-Hernandez, J.S. and Dominguez, J.C. 2007. Sexual competitiveness and compatibility between mass reared sterile flies and wild populations Anastrepha ludens (Diptera: Tephritidae) from different regions in Mexico. Florida Entomologist, 90 (1): 19-26. [15] Sarwar, M. 2012. Frequency of Insect and mite Fauna in Chilies Capsicum annum L., Onion Allium cepa L. and Garlic Allium sativum L. Cultivated Areas, and their Integrated Management. International Journal of Agronomy and Plant Production, 3 (5): 173-178. [16] Sarwar, M. 2013. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) - A Constructive Utensil to Manage Plant Fatalities. Research and Reviews: Journal of Agriculture and Allied Sciences, 2 (3): 1-4. [17] Sarwar, M. 2014 a. Knowing About Identify and Mode of Damage by Insect Pests Attacking Winter Vegetables and Their Management. Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, 2 (4): 1-8. [18] Sarwar, M. 2014 b. Some Insect Pests (Arthropoda: Insecta) of Summer Vegetables, Their Identification, Occurrence, Damage and Adoption of Management Practices. International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Research, 1 (4): 108-117. [19] Sarwar, M. 2015 a. Biological Control Program to Manage Fruit Fly Pests and Related Tephritids (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Backyard, Landscape and Garden. International Journal of Animal Biology, 1 (4): 118-123. [20] Sarwar, M. 2015 b. How to Manage Fruit Fly (Family Tephritidae) Pests Damage on Different Plant Host Species by take up of Physical Control Measures. International Journal of Animal Biology, 1 (4): 124-129. [21] Sarwar, M. 2015 c. Cultural Measures as Management Option against Fruit Flies Pest (Tephritidae: Diptera) in Garden or Farm and Territories. Journal of Animal Biology, 1 (5): 165-171. [22] Sarwar, M. 2015 d. Mechanical Control Prospectus to Aid in Management of Fruit Flies and Correlated Tephritid (Diptera: Tephritidae) Pests. International Journal of Animal Biology, 1 (5): 190-195. [23] Sarwar, M. 2015 e. Quarantine Treatments for Mortality of Eggs and Larvae of Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) Invading Fresh Horticulture Perishable Produces. International Journal of Animal Biology, 1 (5): 196-201. [24] Sarwar, M. 2015 f. Genetic Control Tactic against Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) Insect to Escape Destruction of Perishable Horticulture Crops. International Journal of Animal Biology, 1 (5): 209-214. [25] Sarwar, M. 2015 g. Attraction of Female and Male Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) to Bait Spray Applications for Reduction of Pest Populations. International Journal of Animal Biology, 1 (5): 225-230. [26] Sarwar, M., Ahmad, N., Rashid, A. and Shah, S.M.M. 2015. Valuation of gamma irradiation for proficient production of parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae & Eucoilidae) in the management of the peach fruit-fly, Bactrocera zonata (Saunders). International Journal of Pest Management, 61 (2): 126-134. [27] Sarwar, M., Hamed, M., Rasool, B., Yousaf, M. and Hussain, M. 2013. Host Preference and Performance of Fruit Flies Bactrocera zonata (Saunders) and Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) (Diptera: Tephritidae) For Various Fruits and Vegetables. International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 1 (8): 188-194. [28] Sarwar, M., Hamed, M., Yousaf, M. and Hussain, M. 2014 a. Monitoring of Population Dynamics and Fruits Infestation of Tephritid Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Guava (Psidium guajava L.) Orchard. Journal of Agriculture and Allied Sciences, 3 (2): 36-40. [29] Sarwar, M., Hamed, M., Yousaf, M. and Hussain, M. 2014 b. Monitoring of Population Density and Fruit Infestation Intensity of Tephritid Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Citrus reticulata Blanco Orchard. Journal of Zoological Sciences, 2 (3): 1-5. [30] Sarwar, M., Hamed, M., Yousaf, M. and Hussain, M. 2014 c. Surveillance on Population Dynamics and Fruits Infestation of Tephritid Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Mango (Mangifera indica L.) Orchards of Faisalabad, Pakistan. International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2 (4): 113-119. [31] Shah, S.M.M., Ahmad, N., Sarwar, M. and Tofique, M. 2014. Rearing of Bactrocera zonata (Diptera: Tephritidae) for parasitoids production and managing techniques for fruit flies in mango orchards. International Journal of Tropical Insect Science, 34 (S1): 108-113. [32] Shelly, T.E. and McInnis, D.O. 2003. Incidence of adult diet on the mating success and survival of male Mediterranean fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) from two mass rearing strains on field-caged host trees. Fla. Entomol., 86: 340-344. [33] Shelly, T.E., Donald, O.M., Charles, R., James, E. and Elaine, P. 2007. Sterile Insect Technique and Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae): Assessing the Utility of Aromatherapy in a Hawaiian Coffee Field. J. Econ. Entomol., 100 (2): 273-282. [34] Toledo, J., Rull, J., Oropeza, A., Hernández, E. and Liedo, P. 2004. Irradiation of Anastrepha oblique (Diptera: Tephritidae) revisited: Optimizing sterility induction. Journal of Economic Entomology, 97: 383-389. [35] Weldon, C.W. 2005. Mass-rearing and sterilisation alter mating behaviour of male Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae). Australian Journal of Entomology, 44: 158-163.