Temperature sensitive lethal factors and puparial colour sex separation mechanisms in the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wied.)

A programme to develop genetic sexing mechanisms in the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), was initiated at the IAEA Laboratories, Seibersdorf, in 1983. Because of the potential benefits arising from the elimination of females early in the developmental cycle, combined with the anticipated relative ease of inducing temperature sensitive lethal (tsl) factors, it was decided to attempt to induce and isolate tsl factors active in the egg or early larval stages. Initially, five recombination suppressor (RS) strains were isolated. The degree of recombination suppression ranged from 77.6% to 99.1%. The viability of each of the five RS strains was assessed and RS 30/55 was selected as the most suitable strain. Ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS) was used to induce the tsl factors, by feeding two-day old adult males with a suspension of EMS in a 10% solution of sugar in the drinking water supply. Temperature tolerance tests indicated a discriminating temperature of 32 deg. C when isolating tsl factors active in the egg stage and 35 deg. C when isolating such factors in the early larval stage. A total of 39 and 22 tsl factors have been isolated in the two stages, respectively. However, none has yet proved stable. Induction of tsl factors with a reduced dose of EMS is now being attempted. An alternative genetic sexing programme was initiated in 1985, based on the use of pupal colour dimorphisms. Previously, a genetic sexing strain, T:Y(wp+)101, based on a white female/brown male puparial colour dimorphism, had twice been assessed for stability under mass rearing conditions. In both cases the sexual colour dimorphism disintegrated immediately. Another similarly dimorphic strain, T:Y(wp+)30C, was developed. This strain remained stable for seven generations of mass rearing, after which it started to disintegrate. Disintegration of this strain was probably caused by accidental contamination by wild type medflies. 34 refs, 1 fig., 1 tab