Evaluating the Efficacy of the Male Annihilation Technique in Managing Oriental Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) Populations through Microscopic Assessment of Female Spermathecae.

Abstract

The male annihilation technique (MAT) plays a crucial role in the pest management program of the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae). However, a suitable method for real-time and accurate assessment of MAT's control efficiency has not been established. Laboratory investigations found that motile sperms can be observed clearly under the microscope when the spermathecae dissected from mated females were torn, and no sperms were found in the spermathecae of virgin females. Furthermore, it was confirmed that sperms can be preserved in the spermathecae for more than 50 days once females have mated. Laboratory results also indicated that proportion of mated females decreased from 100% to 2% when the sex ratio (♀:♂) was increased from 1:1 to 100:1. Further observation revealed that there were no significant differences in the superficial area of the ovary or spermatheca between mated females and virgin females. Field investigations revealed that the proportion of mated females (PMF) could reach 81.2% in abandoned mango orchards, whereas the PMF was less than 36.4% in mango orchards where MAT was applied. This indicates that the PMF of the field population can be determined by examining the presence of sperms in the spermathecae. Therefore, we suggest that this method can be used to monitor the control efficiency when MAT is used in the field.