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Larval and adult feeding on methyl eugenol and the mating success of male oriental fruit flies, Bactrocera dorsalis
Author(s) -
Shelly Todd E.,
Nishida Ritsuo
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/j.0013-8703.2004.00180.x
Subject(s) - aphis , biology , methyl eugenol , mating , pest analysis , tephritidae , ecology , botany , aphid
Males of the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae), are strongly attracted to methyl eugenol, a compound found in many plant species (Tan & Nishida, 1996). Laboratory studies have shown that B. dorsalis males that have fed on pure methyl eugenol (Shelly & Dewire, 1994; Tan & Nishida, 1996), or flowers containing methyl eugenol (Shelly, 2000) have a mating advantage over males denied this compound. Nishida et al. (1988) and Tan & Nishida (1996) have demonstrated that, after adult feeding, phenylpropanoid metabolites of methyl eugenol (in particular, 2-allyl-4,5-dimethoxyphenol and coniferyl alcohol) accumulate in the rectal glands, where they are used in the synthesis of the male sex pheromone. Additional work (Shelly, 1995) revealed that the ingestion of methyl eugenol by mass-reared males of B. dorsalis males increases their mating competitiveness relative to wild males in laboratory cages, suggesting that pre-release exposure to methyl eugenol might be used to increase the effectiveness of the sterile insect technique (SIT) against this species. However, the high density of flies in holding containers may restrict access to a methyl eugenol source by individual males, and thus diminish the effectiveness of the exposure protocol. The main objective of this study was to assess whether feeding methyl eugenol to the larvae of a mass-reared strain of B. dorsalis would result in an increased mating success of the subsequently emerged males, thus circumventing the aforementioned access problem associated with adult feeding. In addition, for males fed methyl eugenol as larvae, chemical analyses were performed on the contents of their rectal glands to detect the presence of metabolites of the methyl eugenol used in pheromone synthesis. Moreover, because all previous work examining the effect of methyl eugenol on male mating success had been conducted in small laboratory cages (Shelly & Dewire, 1994; Tan & Nishida, 1996), we tested the effect of adult exposure using field cages to confirm a methyl eugenol-mediated mating advantage under more natural conditions.