Preventative releases of self-limiting Ceratitis capitata provide pest suppression and protect fruit quality in outdoor netted cages

Abstract

The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, (Medfly) is considered a key pest of citrus fruit in many countries. Integrated pest management (IPM) approaches are frequently highly dependent on the use of insecticides. Oxitec's self-limiting (prevents the insects' offspring from surviving to adulthood) Medfly technology (OX3864A) offers an approach to manage Medfly outbreaks and may offer improved sustainability and economics for area-wide programmes. Netted cages were used to evaluate OX3864A deployed for the first time outdoors as a preventative treatment to suppress wild Medfly. Comparative assessments examined sexual competitiveness, the relative performance of OX3864A releases at both adult and pupal lifestages, and the ability of OX3864A to protect against fruit damage. OX3864A males are as competitive as wild males. Deployment of both adult and pupal life-stages of OX3864A effectively reduce Medfly abundance, resulting in elimination of the target pest populations. OX3864A deployment as adults also demonstrated the beneficial attribute of protecting fruit quality to preserve marketable yield. Data for adult and pupal deployment strategies are encouraging for self-limiting technologies targeting Medfly populations and support a broader evaluation of OX3864A Medfly or further improved self-liming Oxitec strains of Medfly in open settings.

Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Moroccan Citrus orchards: Chemical and Sustainable Control Methods and Priorities for Future Research

“…19 Sustained release of self-limiting medflies Improved sterile pests are another possible technique to moderate the expensive costs of SIT-like programs and increase efficiency. 34,66 The SIT is a mating-based method whereby released sterile males (sterilized via irradiation) compete with their wild competitors for successful mating with wild females inside orchards. 66 Compared to wild males, the exposure of males to irradiation causes a complete loss of competitive mating aptitude.…”

Adequacy and sufficiency evaluation of existing EFSA guidelines for the molecular characterisation, environmental risk assessment and post‐market environmental monitoring of genetically modified insects containing engineered gene drives

“…albopictus, Anopheles albimanus and An. stephensi (Fu et al, 2010;Wise de Valdez et al, 2011;Labb e et al, 2012;Slade and Morrison, 2014) and agricultural pests such as the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella; strain OX4319L; Harvey-Samuel et al, 2015;Bolton et al, 2019), fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda; strain OX4319; Jin et al, 2013), pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella; strains OX3402C, OX4135 and OX4319; Simmons et al, 2011;Morrison et al, 2012;Jin et al, 2013), Mediterranean fruit fly (C. capitata; strain OX3864A; Leftwich et al, 2014;Asadi et al, 2019) and olive fly (Bactrocera oleae; strain OX3097D; Ant et al, 2012;Turner et al, 2018). These strains also express the fluorescent protein marker, DsRed, to permit the effective monitoring of the presence of such strains in the field.…”

On the use of Traveling Waves for Pest/Vector elimination using the Sterile Insect Technique

“…In addition, system ( 5) is considered with non-negative and sufficiently smooth initial data. We will now address the question of existence of mono-stable and bistable traveling wave solutions in system (5). Unfortunately, in our case, we cannot apply directly the results from Fang and Zhao [11].…”

“…As previously, we weaken the third statement of (K) and it now reads as: 5 , and (K') 3 f (u) is piecewise continuously differentiable in u for 0 ≤ ν ≤ 1 and differentiable at 0, and for µ > 0 the matrix A(µ)…”

“…For fruit flies, ionizing radiation has been used so far [9]. However a genetically engineered Medfly (C. capitata) has been developed and tested [5]. Even if, conceptually, the Sterile Insect Technique appears to be very simple, in reality it is not and the process to reach field applications is long and complex [9].…”