CONTROLLING FRUIT FUES BY THE STERILE-INSECT TECHNIQUE PROCEEDINGS OF A PANEL AND RESEARCH CO-ORDINATION MEETING ORGANIZED BY THE JOINT FAO/IAEA DIVISION OF ATOMIC ENERGY IN FO O D A N D AGRICULTURE ¿íkj INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, VIENNA, 1 975 CONTROLLING FRUIT FLIES BY THE STERILE -INSECT TECHNIQUE PANEL PROCEEDINGS SERIES CONTROLLING FRUIT FLIES BY THE STERILE-INSECT TECHNIQUE PROCEEDINGS OF A PANEL AND RESEARCH CO-ORDINATION MEETING ON THE STERILE-MALE TECHNIQUE FOR CONTROL OF FRUIT FLIES ORGANIZED BY THE JOINT FAO/IAEA DIVISION OF ATOMIC ENERGY IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE AND HELD IN VIENNA, 12-16 NOVEMBER 1973 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY V IE N N A , 197 5 CONTROLLING FRUIT FLIES BY THE STERILE-INSECT TECHNIQUE IAEA, VIENNA, 1975 STI/PUB/392 ISBN 92-0 —111575—X Printed by the IAEA in Austria Novem ber 1975 FOREWORD The effectiveness of the sterile-insect technique (SIT) was amply demonstrated even before the recent steep rises in oil prices. With the increasing cost o f oil-derived insecticides, the SIT becomes all the more important since the efficient use o f this technique depends on minimizing the application o f insecticides and maximizing the utilization o f local resources. In this context the SIT is an effective and environment-sparing alternative to indiscriminate use o f chemical control, and is especially significant for developing countries with their limited foreign exchange and still relatively unpolluted environments. Many of these countries rely heavily on agricultural exports o f fruit and fruit products for their foreign exchange. Appropriately, most SIT campaigns up to now have been directed against fruit flies. Since the previous FAO/IAEA panel on the control of fruit flies by the SIT, published by the IAEA in 1970 under the title “Sterile-male Technique for Control of Fruit Flies”, much progress has been made and aspects o f the SIT so far ignored or neglected have come to receive increasing attention. Am ong these aspects is quality control by flight-mill studies, mating speed, and measurement o f genetic distance between populations by allozyme analysis. In addition, new field operations using sterile releases and related techniques have been carried out against such pests as medfly, melon fly, cherry fruit fly, olive fly and onion fly. A panel and research co-ordination meeting to survey these developments was held by the Joint FAO/IAEA Division o f Atom ic Energy in Food and Agriculture in Vienna on 12—16 November 1973 and the present book contains the proceedings o f that combined meeting. Since then insecticides have become even more costly, and the containment of fruit flies by methods less reliant on insecticides has taken on a new urgency. The need for such fruit-fly containment and for its timely application can be strikingly illustrated by an example taken from Central America. The Mediterranean fruit fly, which first appeared in the 1950s in Central America, has surged northward throughout this area and is now poised to invade Mexico. The economic significance o f an unchecked spread o f this pest is reflected in an estimated annual loss o f S6.8 million for the Central American area excluding British Honduras and Mexico. Should the medfly invade those two countries, their citrus industries would suffer a combined annual loss o f $6 million. Should the medfly go unchecked and invade the United States, the US fruit industry would lose annually about $85 million for citrus and $200 million for deciduous fruits. These figures come from “Economic Survey of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly in Central America”, USDA/USAID Field Report No. 21, by R.G. Henning et al. (1972). This situation in Central America has revived interest in the Joint UNDP/OIRSA/IAEA co-operative project. Seven countries in this area collaborated in the project from 1965 to 1970; although the outcome was a successful demonstration o f medfly suppression by the SIT, there was unfortunately no practical sequel to it. In 1974, remedying this situation would have required the investment of an estimated $20 million in a five-year campaign of eradication culminating in area-wide releases o f sterile medflies. In spite o f this heavy cost, eradication was still at that time considered a feasible and economically possible proposition. Now, however, in 1975, prices have rocketed so steeply and the pest has spread so widely that eradication may no longer be economic or practicable, and containment including the use o f guardian populations o f sterile flies may be a last resort. Because o f its particular relevance this book includes as an appendix a paper by R.H. Rhode, originally planned for the 1974 IA EA Symposium in Innsbruck on the Sterility Principle for Insect Control. This paper describes some of the organizational, strategic and technical aspects o f what, under Central American conditions, has become a formi­ dable undertaking. It is hoped that the present book will be a useful addition to the series o f panel and symposium proceedings published by the IA E A on the sterile-insect technique, and will encourage redoubled efforts in the use of this non-polluting method o f controlling fruit flies. CONTENTS PRINCIPAL PAPERS The sterile-insect technique for the control o f fruit flies: a survey (IA E A -PL-582/1).................................................................................................................... 3 E J. Harris Genetic variation in natural insect populations and its bearing on mass-rearing programmes (IA E A -PL-582/2).............................................................................................. 9 G.L. Bush Quality in mass-produced insects: definition and evaluation (IA E A -PL-582/3) ............... 19 D.L. Chambers Progress o f the pilot test at Lanai against Mediterranean fruit flies and melon flies (IA E A -PL-582/4).................................................................................................................... 33 E.J. Harris, R. T. Cunningham, N. Tanaka, К Ohinata The Procida medfly pilot experiment: status of the medfly control after two years of sterile-insect releases (IA E A -P L -5 8 2 / 5 )............................................................................... 39 U. Cirio Genetic control of Ceratitis capitata', practical application o f the sterile-insect technique (IAEA-PL-5 82/20) ............................................................................................................... 51 L. Mellado, P. Ros, M. Arroyo, E. Castillo Application of the sterile-insect technique for control of Mediterranean fruit flies in Israel under field conditions (IAEA-PL-582/6)................................................................. 67 S.S. Kamburov, A. Yawetz, D.J. Nadel Application of SIT on the European cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi L., in northwest Switzerland (IA E A -P L -5 8 2 / 7 ).............................................................................................. 77 E.F. Boiler, U. Remund Small-scale field experiments on sterile-insect control o f the onion fly, Hylemya antiqua (M eigen) (IA E A -P L -5 8 2 / 8 ).................................................................................................. 83 J. Theunissen, M. Loosjes, J.Ph.W. Noordink, J. Noorlander, J. Ticheler Mass rearing o f the olive fruit fly, Dacus oleae (Gmelin), at ” Democritos” (IAEA-PL-5 82/9). ................................................................................................................ 93 J.A. Tsitsipis Comparative behaviour o f lab.-cultured and wild-type Dacus oleae flies in the field (IAEA-PL-582/10) ............................................................................................................... 101 R.J. Prokopy, G.E. Haniotakis, A.P. Economopoulos PROGRESS REPORTS Summaries o f work done at various institutions .................................................................... 109 SEIBERSDORF CONTRIBUTIONS Contributions from staff of the Seibersdorf Laboratory, IAEA, Vienna 127 STATEMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS General statements and recommendations ............................................................................ 149 Specific statements and recommendations ............................................................................ 152 Appendix I A medfly eradication proposal for Central Am erica............................................................... 159 R.H. Rhode Appendix 11 Report of the Illrd meeting of the IOBC/WPRS working group on genetic control of the Mediterranean fruit f l y ........................................................................................................ 167 List o f Participants 173 PRINCIPAL PAPERS IAEA-PL-582/1 THE STERILE-INSECT TECHNIQUE FOR THE CONTROL OF FRUIT FLIES A survey E.J. HARRIS Hawaiian Fruit Flies Lab., USDA, ARS, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States o f Am erica Abstract THE STERILE-INSECT TECHNIQUE FOR THE CONTROL OF FRUIT FLIES: A SURVEY. Some advantages of the sterile-insect technique (SIT) are its minimum contribution to environmental pollution and its minimum adverse effect on non-target organisms. A review is made of the melon fly and sterile Mediterranean fruit fly release programmes, the accomplishments, and the implications. Recom­ mendations are made for research leading to development of methods for practical use of the SIT. INTRODUCTION In the United States in recent years, the sterile-insect technique (SIT) has emerged as an important approach to biological control of pest insect species and an alternative