Dispersal and longevity of wild and mass-reared Anastrepha ludens and Anastrepha obliqua (Diptera: Tephritidae)

The rates of dispersal and survival of sterile mass-reared laboratory flies and sterile wild flies of Anastrepha ludens (Loew) and Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) were estimated and compared with a regular rectangular array of 64 food-baited traps spaced 60 m between traps around the release point in Tapachula Chiapas, Mexico. The traps were scored every day during the first week, and then every 3 d over a 30-d period. For A. obliqua, the number of males recaptured was higher than that of females, while for A. ludens, females were recaptured more frequently than males. The recapture rate for the wild strains ranged from 0.6-24.8% for A. ludens and 1.3-16.2% for A. obliqua and the corresponding ranges for the mass-reared strains were 0.5-7.1% and 0.5-3.0% respectively. The life expectancy was 4.7 d for wild and 4.3 d for mass-reared A. obliqua males but 3 and 2 d, respectively, for wild and mass-reared A. ludens males. The net displacement of A. ludens and A. obliqua ranged approximately from 100-250 m and took place mostly on the first day. Wild A. ludens moved to the northwest from the release point while the mass-reared strain moved to the west. The A. obliqua wild flies moved to the west, while the mass-reared strain shifted to the southwest. We discuss the implications of our findings as to the spacing and frequency of sterile fly releases for the suppression of wild populations.