| Abstrakt: |
The Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) mass-rearing facility, located at the Centre National des Sciences et Technologies Nucléaires, Sidi Thabet, northern part of Tunisia, was specifically designed for rearing genetic sexing strains of this species. Rearing operations were initiated in 2004 to supply sterile males for a pilot project to control the Mediterranean fruit fly in 5800 hectares of citrus plantations in the Cap Bon peninsula. The peninsula contains the largest growing area in Tunisia for citrus destined for export. The project is supported by the Tunisian Government, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). During the first year of operations, fly production was unstable due to fluctuations in the environmental conditions, the lack of regular supply of essential larval diet ingredients, and the frequent breakdown of some essential equipment. As a result, the numbers of flies produced was reduced and/or the quality of the sterile males impaired. These problems were solved through the fine-tuning of all rearing procedures, adjustments to the environmental control system, and the introduction of quality control procedures consistent with those described in the FAO/IAEA/USDA manual for each procedure and phase involved in the production of sterile male adults. By the end of 2004, an average of six million sterile pupae were produced per week. Further improvements and adjustments in all the rearing steps and protocols are necessary to obtain the maximal sterile pupae capacity of 12 million per week. KEYWORDS Ceratitis capitata, Mediterranean fruit fly, mass-rearing, quality control, genetic sexing, sterile males, Tunisia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
