Method of assessing the fertility of wild Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) females for use in sterile insect technique programs

Experiments aimed at developing a method of assessing the degree of egg sterility introduced into Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) populations after application of the sterile insect technique programs (SIT) were carried out on the island of Chios, Greece. A 1st attempt to obtain C capitata eggs in the field using artificial oviposition spheres baited with female attractants was unsuccessful. In subsequent experiments, wild C, capitata females were captured live with the use of slightly modified plastic International Pheromones' McPhail traps baited with water and 3 dispensers of the female targeted food-based attractants ammonium acetate, 1,4 diaminobutane (putrescine), and trimethylamine. When caged individually for 15 d with pears, spheres, or hollow ceresin wax domes as oviposition substrates, 90, 65, and 30% of these females, respectively, oviposited an average of 91.4, 110.9, and 75.3 eggs whose hatchability was 67.9, 64.4, and. 74.2%. The potentials and shortcomings of this method in measuring sterility trends introduced into wild populations of C. capitata or other insects after SIT application are discussed.