Heritability of morphological traits and mating probability of males derived from successful parents of the Anastrepha ludens Tapachula-7 strain

Heritability measures the proportion of variation in a phenotypic trait within a population attributable to genetic differences among individuals. It also reflects genetic variation that can be passed from one generation to the next, and that can be used to predict the effectiveness of selection on traits involved in enhancing individual performance in genetic breeding programs. In fruit flies, females may select males based on chemical, acoustical, and visual signals as well as physical or morphological characteristics. However, the extent to which genetic variation underlying these traits is passed on to offspring is still largely unknown. Here, we used flies from a genetic sexing strain of Anastrepha ludens (Diptera: Tephritidae), known as Tapachula 7, to determine and compare the probability of mating for males derived from parents where mating interactions were successful vs. those that were not under field cage conditions. Offspring of both groups were propagated in the laboratory, and results showed that males derived from successful parents had a greater probability of mating compared to males derived from parents that were unsuccessful in the field cages. We also estimated the heritability of four morphological traits (pupal weight, thorax length, head width, and wing length) related to male mating success. The morphological characters of pupal weight and thorax length produced relatively low heritability values compared with medium and higher heritability values for head width and wing length, respectively. This study demonstrated that a degree of genetic association exists between reproductive success and some morphological traits associated with mating success in males of the Tapachula-7 strain of A. ludens. The possibility of using these results for improving the sexual performance of sterile males through directed selection is discussed.