Studies of the Life Cycle and Mating Competitiveness of the White-striped Oriental Fruit Fly

Full text: The strength and mating competitiveness of mass-reared flies are the key success factors of the control of fruit fly by the radiation-induced sterile insect technique. The objectives of this reported set of experiments were to compare the life cycle and the mating competitiveness of the white-striped oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), with those of the normal fly. It was found that the egg and larval periods of the white-striped flies were longer than those of the normal flies. The pupation percentage and the sex ratio of the white-striped flies were also lower than the normal flies but their pupal weight and flight ability percentage were higher. Under non-competitive conditions, mating propensity of either strain was not different from the other. But under competitive conditions, the white-striped flies had significantly higher mating competitiveness than the normal flies due to a shorter pre-reproductive period