Genetic Studies of the Melon Fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae

The melon fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae , is an important agricultural pest in Hawaii, Guam, and throughout Oriental Asia. Male annihilation and bait sprays are the two primary means of population control for this species. Methods for rearing melon fly larvae and adults are given by S. D. McCombs and S. H. Saul. The chapter addresses two prerequisites to developing a sexing system: the availability of a selectable marker and the ability to construct translocation strains. Laboratory strains were screened for morphological variants by carrying single pair matings for three generations. Parental crosses of mutant strains were made by isolating male and female flies in separate containers within 24 h of eclosion. Males in the translocation strain are wild-type, but females have the bubble wing trait and are flightless. In mass release programs, wild-type males would be able to disperse into the target area to seek indigenous females.