• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.198-206
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• 2014

The olive fly Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) is the key pest for olive cultivation worldwide. Substantial effort has been invested in the development of the sterile insect technique (SIT) to control this pest. One of the limitations to develop SIT technology for olive fruit fly is the low ability of wild females to lay eggs in other medium than olive fruits, and their slow adaptation to oviposition in artificial substrates. In the present study, fruit grapes were used as an alternative egg collection medium to harvest eggs and young larvae from freshly colonized wild strains originating from France, Italy, Spain and Croatia. The larvae were allowed to develop into the fruits until the second instar, before they were extracted out and further reared on a standard artificial diet. Furthermore, F1 to F4 female flies were alternatively offered wax bottles to oviposit. Finally, the performance of hybrid strains created from crosses between wild and long colonised flies was assessed. The results showed that females of all 4 wild strains readily oviposited eggs in grapes and from the F2 generation onward, females from all strains were adapted to laying eggs in wax bottles. No difference was observed in eggs and pupae production among all strains tested. The findings are discussed for their implications on SIT application against olive fruit fly.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.15-23
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• 2016

One major constraint in the development and implementation of a successful and cost-effective area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programme with a SIT component for Bactrocera oleae (Diptera: Tephritidae) is the ability to produce a large number of high quality mass-reared individuals. The aim of this study was to develop a more efficient and practical egg collection system in an attempt to improve the mass-rearing of this species. The following basic parameters were examined: egg production per female, egg hatch, pupal recovery, pupal weight, adult emergence and percentage of fliers. Three different strains (Israel wild-type, France wild-type, and Greece laboratory) were tested and each strain was evaluated for six generations. Female flies of the Israel strain produced significantly more eggs per female than the other two strains, but egg hatch was significantly lower. Egg hatch of the France wild type and the Greece laboratory strain was similar. For all other parameters, there was no significant difference between strains; however, there was a significant generational effect for all parameters observed. As a result of this study, a protocol was developed for the mass-rearing of this species that included the use of large adult holding cages that could house up to 96,000 flies per cage. The newly developed method of egg collection using a flat wax panel as one of the sides of an adult holding cage proved to be cost-effective, efficient, making colony growth easier for industrial mass-rearing.